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UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 

AT 

AMHERST 


F 
74 

S63 
W5 


OLD  TIMES 


IN 


SHREWSBURY 

MASSACHUSETTS 


Gleanings  from  History  and  Tradition 


BY 

Elizabeth  Ward 


UNiVERSii'Y  UF 

massachusetts 
amh£rst7mass. 


Copyright,  1892,  by 
ELIZABETH    WARD. 


Press  of  The  McGeorge  Printing  Co  ,  220  &  222  William  St.,  N.  Y. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

The  Earliest  Times,       .......  5 

The  First  Minister  and  Other  Worthies,     ...  28 

The  Pease   Tavern,         ...            ....  45 

The  Baldwin  Tavern  and  its  Various  Owners,        .            .  59 
Dr.  Sumner  and  the  Church,             .            .            .            .            .79 

Other  People  and  Incidents,        .....  108 

The  Henshaw  Place,      .            .            .            .            .           .            .  128 

Shrewsbury  in  the  Revolution — Sketch  of  General  Ward,  137 


LLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

The  Balanced  Rock,  ......  9 

The  Wheelock  House,  ......        13 

Gershom  Wheelock's  Knee  Buckles,  .  .  .  15 

Rocky  Pasture  between  the  Sewall  and  Rawson  Lands,    .         17 
The  First  Parsonage,       ......  29 

The  First  Communion  Service,        .....        32 

The  Haven  Tavern,  ......  35 

The  Witherby  Homestead,  .....        43 

The  Pease  Tavern  as  it  was  in  the  Stage  Days,  .  46 

The  Old  Mile  Stone,        .  .  .  .  •  .        •       52 

The  Baldwin  Tavern,  ......        63 

Facsimile  of  the  Doctor's  Bill,  ....  67 

The  last  of  Lady  Jones'  Chairs,    .  .  .  .  .78 

The  Sumner  Houses  and  the  Church  previous  to  1834,        .        81 
Dr.  Sumner  in  his  Wig,    ......  90 

The  South  Porch  as  it  was,  .  .  .  .  .101 

Mr.  Allen's  Pulpit,  ......  103 

The  Church  in  1892,  ......       lo.s 

Facsimile  of  Marriage  Notice,      .  .  .  ,  .121 

The  Henshaw  Place,         .  .  .  .  .  .  129 

Signatures  of  Volunteers  in  the  Ca^nadian  Expkdition,  145 

The  Ward  Homestead,  ......      149 

General  Ward's  Sword,  ......  159 

Sheriff  Ward,   .  .  .  .  .  ,  .175 

The  Ward  Monument,       ......  183 


THE    EARLIEST    TIMES. 

THERE  are  moments  in  history  which  shine  out 
brightly  through  the  centuries,  and  to  us,  who  are 
looking  back  into  the  dimness  of  the  past  to  catch 
every  ray  of  light  that  can  show  us  more  of  the  lives  of 
those  who  came  before  us,  they  are  full  of  the  most  in- 
tense interest.  Events  which  seemed  trivial  to  those 
who  were  the  actors,  even  as  the  daily  happenings  of 
our  lives  seem  to  us,  are  surrounded  with  an  interest 
that  increases  as  time  passes,  and  we  gather  every  frag- 
ment of  a  story  pertaining  to  the  home  life  of  those  who 
a  century  ago  moved  about  among  these  familiar  scenes, 
and  linking  them  together  find  how  our  forefathers  lived, 
what  heroic  deeds  they  accomplished,  what  hardships 
they  endured,  and  in  all  respects  what  manner  of  men 
and  women  they  were  who  subdued  the  wilderness  for 
us,  and  made  the  paths  smooth  in  which  our  more  ten- 
der feet  were  to  tread. 


6  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

The  earliest  recorded  fact  concerning  any  inhabitant 
of  Shrewsbury  comes  to  us  from  the  soil  itself,  and  from 
a  grave  found  upon  our  borders.  Here  we  learn  that 
the  mastodon  once  roamed  in  his  majesty  over  our  hills, 
and  claimed  one  of  our  valleys  for  his  last  resting-place. 
For  an  unknown  number  of  years  no  owner  of  the  soil 
had  any  suspicion  that  beneath  the  smooth,  heavy  sod  m 
the  meadow  lay  a  gigantic  body,  until  the  flesh  had  be- 
come a  part  of  the  soil  and  the  bones  had  crumbled  to 
dust.  In  1884,  while  Mr.  W.  U.  Maynard,  the  present 
owner,  was  having  a  deep  trench  dug,  in  order  to  drain 
and  improve  the  land,  the  spades  of  the  workmen 
brought  up  with  the  dark  soil  nine  beautiful,  polished 
teeth  darkened  with  earth  stains,  and  resembling  choice 
specimens  of  agate.  These  with  a  few  fragments  of  bone 
were  all  that  remained  of  the  "Mastodon  Giganteus. " 
In  close  proximity  to  these  teeth  was  found  a  human 
skull,  and  the  mystery  surrounding  the  fact,  that  these 
two  skulls  were  found  in  one  place  eight  feet  below  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  has  not  yet  been  cleared  away. 
Perhaps  a  ray  of  light  is  shed  upon  the  human  skull  by  a 
recent  reliable  historian,  W.  T.  Harlow,  who  tells  us  that 
undoubtedly  this  farm  was  the  first  in  town  occupied  by 
a  white  man,  and  that  this  man  was  ]Mr.  Warner.  He 
also  tells  us  that  ]Mr.  Warner  suddenly  disappeared  and 
no  trace  of  him  was  ever  found.  May  not  this  be  a 
trace,  this  skull  without  a  name.?  Doubtless  I\Ir.  Warner 
lost  his  way  in  the  trackless  swamp  and  sank  in  the  soft 


THE    EARLIEST    TIMES  7" 

mire  to  the  rock  bed  on  which  lay  the  mastodon.  This 
spot  may  now  be  seen  in  the  meadow  bordering  on  the 
Northboro  line  and  the  county  road,  at  the  right  as  you 
go  westward.  The  mastodon  teeth  are  preserved  by  the 
Natural  History  Society  in  Worcester,  and  Mr.  Warner's 
skull  (if  it  be  Mr.  Warner's)  was  sent  to  the  Peabody 
Museum  in  Cambridge,  where  it  has  been  examined  by 
scientists  and  pronounced  by  them  to  be  a  remarkable 
specimen ;  they  also  deemed  it  worthy  of  a  learned 
treatise  by  one  of  their  number.  It  is  fitting  that  the 
memory  of  the  first  white  inhabitant  should  be  thus 
perpetuated. 

The  history  of  the  red  men  who  followed  the  mastodon 
is  also  hidden  from  us,  but  we  feel  certain  that  here  some 
of  them  lived  their  lives  and  passed  on,  let  us  hope,  to 
the  happy  hunting-grounds  beyond.  Of  their  names  we 
are  ignorant,  and  it  is  only  by  the  finding  ot  their  knives, 
arrow-heads  and  other  stone  implements,  that  we  have 
evidence  that  their  homes  were  once  where  ours  now  are; 
but  it  must  have  been  at  a  very  early  period,  for  we  do 
not  learn  that  they  claimed  any  title  to  the  land  when 
the  first  grants  were  made.  One  of  these  grants  was  to 
Mr.  Isaac  Johnson  who  sailed  with  the  squadron  of  twelve 
ships  which  left  England  in  1628,  in  the  stately  ship  "Ar- 
bella, "  named  in  honor  of  his  young  and  beautiful  wife, 
the  Lady  Arbella,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  who 
had  left  her  luxurious  English  home  with  all  its  comforts 
to  find  another,  she  little  knew  how  comfortless,  in  the 


S  OLD   TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

New  World  which  was  at  that  time  attracting  so  many 
adventurers  from  beyond  the  sea,  Isaac  Johnson  had 
gathered  together  all  that  he  had,  and  taken  his  portion 
of  his  grandfathers  estate  to  take  himself  and  his  frail 
young  wife  to  America  and  establish  there  a  home  for 
themselves.  After  their  arrival,  he  made  himself  useful 
to  the  government  and  received  as  remuneration  a  grant 
of  several  hundred  acres  of  land  lying  in  the  northwest 
part  of  what  was  afterwards  called  Shrewsbury.  The 
Lady  Arbella  found  refuge  for  a  time  in  Salem  in  the 
home  of  friends,  but  she  soon  faded  away  like  a  delicate 
tropical  flower  in  the  cold,  hard  life  which  she  found  in 
New  England.  Her  amiable  and  heart-broken  husband 
followed  her  in  one  month,  his  grave  being  the  first  m 
King's  Chapel  burying  ground  in  Boston.  It  is  pleasant 
to  feel  that  the  story  of  the  charming  Lady  Arbella  is 
even  so  remotely  connected  with  any  part  of  our  town, 
though  it  is  probable  that  neither  of  them  ever  saw  the 
Shrewsbury  land. 

A  very  distinguished  man  of  the  early  times  left  his 
name  upon  Shrewsbury  soil.  Rawson's  Hill,  in  the 
north,  is  a  part  of  the  land  granted  in  1639  to  Edward 
Rawson,  the  young  and  talented  man  who  at  the  age  of 
three-and-twenty  took  his  seat  among  the  legislators  of 
the  colony.  Five  hundred  acres  were  granted  to  him 
for  "his  paynes"  in  the  public  service,  "provided  he  go 
on  with  the  business  of  powder  making  if  the  Salt  Petre 
come."     So  he  experimented  largely  upon  this  land  but 


THE    EARLIEST   TIMES 


^ot  little  Salt  Petre ;  however  the  grant  was  given  him 
for  the  large  amount  of  time  and  money  he  had  spent  in 
the  search.  Edward  Rawson  was  a  remarkable  man,  no 
blemish  being  found  upon  his  character  save  that  he  used 
his  influence  to  hang  the  Salem  witches.  More  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  later  his  descendants,  Elijah 
Rawson  and  his  son  Samuel,  lived  in  this  town. 


On  the  rocky  ledge,  not  far  from  Rawson's  Hill,  at  the 
left  as  you  go  toward  Boylston,  is  the  "Rocking  Stone" 
or  "Dog's  Head"  as  it  has  been  called.  It  is  a  large 
boulder,  resting  upon  a  flat  rock,  but  touching  it  in  only 
one  spot,  and  that  scarcely  larger  than  a  man's  hand.  It 
is  said  that  at  one  time  it  was  so  perfectly  balanced  that 
it  could  be  rocked  by  a  child,  but  so  firmly  placed  that 


lO  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

no  power  could  dethrone  it.  Some  years  ago  several 
men,  to  try  their  own  strength  and  that  of  their  oxen, 
made  great  efforts  to  throw  it  off  from  its  high  pinnacle, 
but  only  succeeded  in  fixing  it  more  firmly  in  its  position 
and  rendering  it  immovable,  so  that  now  it  is  no  longer 
the  "Rocking  Stone"  but  the  ''Balanced  Rock."  A  large 
piece  has  at  some  remote  period  been  broken  from  it  and 
lies  by  its  side,  but  the  memory  of  the  ''oldest  inhabit- 
ant" fails  to  recall  the  time  when  the  two  were  one. 
The  boulder  is  of  a  different  formation  from  the  rock  be- 
low and  must  have  been  left  there  by  the  ice  long  before 
the  mastodon  passed  that  way. 

Another  eminent  man  of  the  seventeenth  century  left 
his  name  upon  the  land  here.  This  was  the  Hon.  Samuel 
Sewall,  who  was  chief  justice  of  the  colony,  and  it  came 
about  in  this  wise.  In  his  youth  he  was  a  student  at 
Cambridge  and  on  the  day  that  he  took  his  degree  he 
also  fell  in  love  with  the  Boston  jNIint  ^Master's  rosy- 
cheeked  daughter,  Hannah  Hull.  She  had  gone  over 
from  Boston  as  girls  do  now  to  see  the  young  men  grad- 
uated, and  was  very  favorably  impressed  with  the  ap- 
pearance of  Mr.  Samuel  Sewall.  The  attraction  being 
mutual,  the  young  man  found  his  way  frequently  to  her 
home,  but  her  father  was  not  well  pleased  with  his 
attentions  ;  finding,  however,  that  he  was  a  godly  youth, 
he  reluctantly  gave  his  consent  to  the  marriage.  The 
wedding  took  place  on  Feb.  28th,  1676,  in  Boston,  in  the 
old  hall,    "which  was  one  very  large  room,"  and  they 


THE    EARLIEST   TIMES  II 

"were  married  by  Gov.  Bradstreet.  After  the  ceremony, 
which  was  performed  in  the  presence  of  a  large  com- 
pany, John  Hull  ordered  the  servants  to  "bring  in  the 
balances ;"  into  one  scale  he  placed  his  daughter,  and 
from  a  large  chest  in  a  corner  of  the  room  he  took  out 
handful  after  handful  of  bright  new  pine-tree  sixpences 
and  shillings  of  his  own  coining,  throwing  them  into  the 
other  scale  until  Hannah  went  up  and  the  shining  six- 
pences and  shillings  went  down,  when  he  presented  the 
contents  of  both  scales  to  the  happy  husband,  he  him- 
self being  much  delighted  with  this  novel  method  of 
bestowing  his  gifts.  He  also  gave  to  his  daughter  a 
certain  grant  of  land  lying  within  the  bounds  of  Shrews- 
bury which  afterwards  became  her  husband's ;  a  part  of 
it  is  yet  known  to  us  as  Sewall's  Hill,  and  Sewall's  Pond. 
For  nearly  one  hundred  years  the  great  men  of  the 
times  travelled  up  and  down  the  path  which  led  from 
Boston  out  into  the  wilderness,  until  settlements  sprang 
up  all  along,  and  the  path  became  the  King's  highway. 
At  first  these  hills  were  passed  by,  when  men  talked  of 
building,  for  fairer  lands  beyond,  until  at  length  they 
began  to  look  with  greater  favor  upon  this  "shunned 
forest,"  and  their  strong  arms  longed  to  grapple  with  the 
tough  problem  of  planting  a  town  here.  The  formative 
influences  which  determine  the  character  of  a  town  differ 
with  the  times.  Oklahoma  may  have  been  built  in  a 
day,  but  Rome  was  not,  neither  was  Shrewsbury.  The 
grant  made  in  171 7  to  a  few  men  was,  "provided  they 


12  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

number  forty  families,  build  themselves  houses,  and 
settle  an  orthodox  minister  within  three  years. "'  During- 
these  three  years  the  pioneers  had  battles  to  fight ;  the 
knowledge  of  this  added  courage  to  their  strength  and 
zest  to  their  labors.  They  built  their  houses  with  their 
o-uns  at  hand,  for  Indians  were  still  feared,  thouo-h  the 
friendly  Hassanimiscoes  in  Grafton  were  the  nearest 
tribe ;  yet  they  were  but  Indians,  and  treachery  was  a 
characteristic  of  the  race.  The  wild  beasts  prowling- 
about  their  doors  must  be  vanquished ;  the  ground  itself 
must  be  wrested  from  the  dominion  of  the  forest,  and 
with  the  rudest  of  implements,  subdued  to  fruitfulness, 
by  indefatigable  energy  and  ceaseless  toil.  A  strong- 
purpose  and  persevenng  labor  succeeded  in  bringing  to- 
gether the  elements  of  a  town  within  the  prescribed  time. 
One  of  the  first  names  that  appears  to  us  on  the  records 
is  that  of  Gershom  Wheelock,  who  for  his  enterprise  and 
cheerful  disposition,  deserves  especial  mention.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  man  to  build  a  house  in  the 
new  settlement  and  spent  one  winter  in  its  erection. 
This  house  was  situated  on  what  is  now  the  old  road  to 
Worcester  in  the  valley  near  ' '  jNIiddlebrook. "'  He  labored 
alone  that  winter,  keeping  up  his  spirits  through  the  cold, 
dreary  days  by  his  merry  whistling,  sleeping  in  the  loft 
and  pulling  the  ladder  up  after  him  at  night,  always 
whistling  his  morning-  song  before  putting  it  down  again. 
His  courage  never  failed  until  the  spring  birds  sang  to 
him  while  he  whistled,  and  the  house  was  done;  then  he 


m-' 


WHEELOCK    HOUSE. 


THE    EARLIEST    TIMES  1$ 

married  Abigail  Flagg  of  Marlboro,  and  housekeeping- 
began  in  Shrewsbury.  In  1720  his  father  Samuel  Whee- 
lock,  who  owned  the  land,  gave  him  a  deed  of  eighty 
acres  and  the  house,  "In  consideration  of  Love,  Good 
will  and  affection  which  I  have  and  do  have  towards  my 
dutiful  Son  Gershom  Wheelock !"  The  first  house  built 
in  town  was  the  first  to  be  burned  ;  nothing  was  saved 
from  the  fire  but  a  few  pieces  of  furniture.  Being  dis- 
satisfied with  his  ventures  in  that  part  of  the  town,  he 
next  built  a  house  on  the  Boylston  road,  the  one  which 
is  now  occupied  by  his  great-grandson  Erastus  Wheelock. 


GERSHOM    WHEELOCk's    KNEEBUCKLES. 

Gershom  Wheelock  appears  to  have  been  quite  an  im- 
portant man  in  the  new  town,  holding  at  different  times 
several  town  offices.  He  was  ensign  in  the  first  military 
company  here  and  afterwards  commissioned  Captain. 
The  Wheelock  house  as  shown  in  the  engraving  is  a 
low,  ancient  house,  shingled  on  the  outside,  with  nar- 
row windows  and  quaint,  low  rooms.  It  has  not  been 
added  to,  but  remains  much  the  same  as  when  built 
more  than  a  century  and  a  half  ago. 

It  was   not   until    1720  that  the    "Town  proprietors" 
chose   a   committee   to    "manage   about    the   meeting- 


l6  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

house,"  and  they  *' voted  two  hundred  and  ten  pounds 
for,  and  towards  building  a  meeting-house,  it  being  five 
pounds  on  each  proprietor."  Measures  were  also  taken 
to  cause  two  saw-mills  to  be  erected  in  the  town  and  put 
in  operation  by  May  ist,  1721,  to  prepare  the  materials 
for  building.  The  meetings  of  the  proprietors  were  held 
at  the  house  of  the  widow,  Elizabeth  How,  in  Marl- 
boro. May  4th,  1721,  the  first  meeting-house  was  erected 
on  what  was  called  "Rocky  Pine  Plain,"  just  a  little 
northeast  of  the  spot  where  the  present  church  now 
stands.  It  was  a  small  building  40x32  feet,  a  plain, 
homely  structure  without  steeple  or  bell ;  it  is  said  that 
people  were  called  to  worship  by  the  beating  of  a  drum. 
The  first  sermon  preached  in  town  was  by  Rev.  Robert 
Breck  of  INIarlboro,  and  was  printed  by  vote  of  the  people. 
In  March,  1732,  there  was  '''granted  to  Thos.  Green  ye 
sum  of  one  pound  for  sweeping  ye  meeting-house  in  ye 
year  1731."  ••  "In  1730-31  the  town  granted  the  sum  of 
one  pound  ten  shillings  for  clearing  one  acre  and  one 
half  of  land  for  the  burying  place."  "In  June,  1729, 
there  was  granted  fifteen  pounds  towards  building  and 
furnishing  the  school-house  in  Shrewsbury,  this  was 
made  into  a  rate  and  committed  to  Edward  Goddard  and 
Thomas  Hapgood  to  collect."  The  account  of  Simon 
Mainard,  John  Wheeler,  Michael  Chapman  and  Elias 
Keyes,  shows  that  they  did  most  of  the  work  of  build- 
ing. Just  where  this  first  school-house  stood  is  not 
stated,  but  in   1730  there  was  laid  out  fifty  acres  for  a 


THE    EARLIEST    TIMES  1 9 

school  lot.  From  an  old  history  of  the  town  we  find 
that  "In  1797  a  school-house  standing  in  the  fork  of  the 
Toads  opposite  the  house  of  Mr.  Calvin  R.  Stone  (now 
Dr.  Brigham's)  was  burnt  with  many  school  books  there- 
in." *'Nov.  1729— Granted  20  pounds  to  pay  the  school 
master  in  Shrewsbury." 

''  To  Lieut.  Ward,  Town  Treasurer  : 

Sir  :  We  desire  that  you  take  speedy  Care  to  get  ye 
Remainder  of  ye  Farmers  money  in  order  to  defray  ye 
Charge  of  ye  School-house. 

John  Keyes, 
Daniel  How, 
Greshom  Wheelock. 

Selectmen. 
Shrewsbury, 
March  5lh,   1730-31." 

Here  is  another  school  document  : — 

*'  To  Mr,  Nahum  Ward,  Town  Treasurer  : 

Sir  :  Please  to  pay  to  Mr.  Daniel  Rand  &  Mr.  Abraham 
ivnowlton  ye  sum  of  Seven  Pounds  out  of  ye  town 
Treasury  to  pay  a  school  Dame  in  ye  South  part  of  ye 
town  for  three  months  service. 

Elnathan  Allen, 
Isaac  Stone, 
Simon  Maynard. 
Feb.  5th,  1733-4-" 


20  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSEIRY 

The  following  shows  that  thsre  was  quite  a  premiuiTL 
paid  for  killing  wild  beasts  : 

"August  1 6,  1 73 1.  Then  reed,  of  Nahum  Ward,  Town 
treasurer,  the  sum  of  one  pound  for  one  wild  cat's  head. 
I  say  received  by  me.  Henry  Keyes. " 

These  copies  were  all  made  from  the  original  docu- 
ments. 

The  law  required  all  towns  to  provide  stocks  and  a 
whipping-post,  that  offenders  might  be  punished  and 
order  preserved.  An  elm  tree  that  stood  near  the  old 
tavern  in  the  centre  was  used  as  a  whipping-post,  but 
tradition  tells  of  only  one  public  wdiipping  there.  A 
black  man  w^as  whipped  for  stealing  clothes  from  a  line 
at  the  house  now  owned  by  William  U.  Maynard.  His 
piteous  wails  and  cries  were  long  remembered  by  those 
who  heard  them  and  saw  the  lashes  laid  upon  his  bare 
back.  It  is  said,  too,  that  the  tree  died  soon  after.  The 
stocks  were  erected  in  the  vicinity  of  the  graveyard, 
probably  that  serious  thoughts  of  their  final  resting-place 
might  dwell  in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  here  im- 
prisoned and  fixed  for  a  time,  as  a  penalty  for  their 
crimes.  It  is  told  that  the  first  man  who  was  punished 
in  the  stocks  was  the  one  who  made  them,  and  the  pay- 
ment he  received  for  the  work  was  the  remittance  of  a 
fine  for  some  misconduct.  A  man,  then,  who  was  found 
in  the  company  of  a  drunken  man,  was  considered  to 
have  been  guilty  of  wrong-doing  to  the  extent  that  sitting: 
a  day  in  the  stocks  was  not  too  great  a  punishment. 


THE     EARLIEST     TIMES  2E 

From  the  following  document  it  would  appear  that  the 
town  grew  careless  in  regard  to  the  education  of  the 
young  and  set  a  bad  example  to  towns  in  the  vicinity  ; 
the  laws  of  King  George,  however,  brought  them  back 
from  the  error  of  their  ways  : 

"  Worcester  s.  s.  Anno  Regni  Regis  Georgii  Tertii  Mag- 
nse  Brittanniae  Francise  Et  Hiberniae  Quarto — 

Att  a  court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  held  at 
Worcester  within  and  for  the  County  of  Worcester  on 
the  third  Tuesday  of  August  being  the  Twentieth  Day  of 
said  Month, 

Annoque  Domini,   1765. 

The  Town  of  Shrewsbury  in  said  County  having  been 
Presented  at  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  peace 
held  at  Worcester  in  and  for  said  County  on  the  first 
Tuesday  of  November  in  the  fourth  year  of  his  Majesty's 
Reign  by  the  grand  jurors  for  the  Body  of  said  County, 
for  that  the  Said  Town  of  Shrewsbury  hath  for  some 
years  last  past,  Consisted  and  does  now  Consist  of  more 
than  an  Hundred  and  Fifty  Families  or  House-holders, 
and  so  are  by  Law  obliged  to  Set  up  a  Grammer  School 
and  maintain  a  Grammer  SchooU  master  there,  Suitable 
for  such  School,  yet  in  Contempt  of  Law,  and  in  Dis- 
couragement of  Learning  they  for  the  Space  of  Six 
Months  last  pest  utterly  neglected  the  same  and  for  the 
time  aforesaid  have  not  been  Provided  with  Such  School 
or  School  Master,  as  by  the  Law  is  appointed  and  Re- 
quired, in  evil  Example  to  others  against  the  peace  of 
the  said  Lord  the  King  and  the  law  in  that  Case  made 


2-2  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

and  Provided.  And  the  Presentment  by  order  of  Court 
hath  been  Continued  from  Court  to  Court  until  this 
Court.  And  now  the  Selectmen  of  Shrewsbury  Plead 
and  say  they  will  not  Contend  with  our  Sovereign  Lord 
the  King  but  put  themselves  on  his  Grace. 

And  the  Court  having  duely  Considered  of  their  Neglect 
order  that  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Town  of  Shrewsbury 
aforesaid  forfiet  and  pay  the  Sum  of  Seven  Pounds  Ten 
Shillings  for  three  months  neglecting  to  Provide  and 
Keep  a  School  as  in  said  presentment  mentioned  to  be 
Levyed  by  warrant  upon  them  according  to  Law  and 
paid  into  the  County  Treasury  for  and  Towards  the  Sup- 
port of  Such  School  or  Schools  within  the  Same  County 
when  this  Court  shall  judge  there  shall  be  most  need 
and  that  they  pay  Costs  Taxed  at  one  Pound  Ten  Shil- 
lings Lawll  money  to  be  levyed  aforesaid." 

It  was  not  until  1727  that  Shrewsbury  was  incorporated 
as  a  town,  and  in  February,  1727-8,  the  town  "granted 
to  Lieut.  Ward  i  pound  16  shillings  for  getting  the  town 
set  off.  This  was  made  into  a  rate  and  committed  to 
William  Taylor  and  Elias  Keyes  to  collect.'  "  March  3, 
1728-9,  granted  foi;  stating  the  County  Road  through  the 
town  of  Shrewsbury  6-1-3.  "  The  town  at  first  contained 
all  the  lands  lying  between  Lancaster,  Marlboro,  Sutton 
and  Worcester.  The  first  town  meeting  was  held  Dec. 
29th,   1727. 

In  17-23  was  "the  most  remarkable,  as  well  as  the 
most  sorrowful  occurrence  that  ever  took  place  in  this 


THE     EARLIEST     TIMES 


23 


part  of  the  country."  The  following  account  is  said  to 
have  been  printed  in  the  only  newspaper  published  at 
that  time  in  New  England.  It  was  a  small  half  sheet, 
printed  by  B.  Green  : 

''Boston,  August  15,  1723.  An  exact  account  of  the 
awful  burning  of  Capt.  John  Keyes'  House,  with  five 
persons  in  it  at  Shrewsbury,  in  the  night  between  the 
7th  and  8th  of  this  inst.  taken  from  a  letter  of  the  Rev, 
Mr.  Breck  of  Marlboro,  and  from  the  mouth  of  Mr.  Ebe- 
nezer  Bragg  of  the  same,  formerly  of  Ipswich,  the  only 
person  of  those,  who  lodged  in  the  house,  who,  by  a  dis- 
tinguishing Providence,  escaped  the  flames.  Capt.  Keyes 
Tv^as  building  an  house  about  nine  or  ten  feet  off  his  old 
•one.  It  was  almost  finished  ;  and  Mr.  Brae"^  aforesaid, 
Ihe  carpenter,  with  his  brother  Abiel,  of  17  years  of  age, 
and  William  Oaks  of  18  his  apprentices,  were  working 
in  it.  Capt.  Keyes,  his  wife  and  four  daughters  lodged 
in  the  old  one  ;  and  the  three  carpenters,  with  the  three 
sons  of  the  Captain,  viz,  Solomon  of  20,  John  of  13  and 
Stephen  of  6  years  of  age,  laying  in  the  new.  On  Wed- 
nesday night,  going  to  bed,  they  took  a  more  than  ordi- 
nary care  of  the  fire,  being  excited  thereto,  by  the  saying 
of  one,  he  would  not  have  the  house  burnt  for  one  hun- 
dred pounds  ;  and  the  reply  of  another,  he  would  not 
for  two  hundred  ;  upon  which  they  carefully  raked  away 
the  chips  lying  near  it  and  stayed  till  the  rest  were 
almost  burnt  out  ;  and  then  they  went  all  six  together 
into  three  beds  in  one  of  the  chambers  ;  and  were  very 


24*  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

cheerly  and  merry  at  their  going  to  bed,  which  was 
about  ten  of  the  clock.  But  about  midnight,  j\Ir.  Bragg^ 
was  awakened  with  a  notion  of  the  house  being  on  fire, 
and  a  multitude  calling  to  quench  it,  with  which  he  got 
up,  saw  nothing,  heard  no  voice,  but  could  hardly  fetch 
any  breath  through  the  stifling  smoke  ;  concluded  the 
house  was  on  fire,  perceived  somebody  stirring  against 
whom  he  hit  two  or  three  times  in  the  dark,  and  not 
being  able  to  speak,  or  breathe  any  longer,  and  striking 
his  forehead  against  the  chimney,  he  thought  of  the^ 
window,  and  happily  found  it ;  when  he  gained  it,  he 
tarried  a  minute,  holding  it  fast  with  one  hand,  and 
reaching  out  the  other,  in  hopes  of  meeting  with  some 
one  or  other  to  save  them,  till  the  smoke  and  fire  came 
so  thick  and  scorching  upon  him,  he  could  endure  it  no 
longer.  And  hearing  no  noise  in  the  chamber,  only  as- 
he  thought,  a  faint  groan  or  two,  he  was  forced  to  jump 
out,  and,  the  window  being  small,  head  foremost ;  though 
he  supposes  by  God's  good  providence  he  turned  before 
he  came  to  the  ground.  As  Mr.  Bragg  was  just  got 
up  again,  Capt.  Keyes,  being  awakened  in  the  old 
house,  was  coming  to  this  side  of  the  new,  and  met 
him.  But  the  flame  immediately  burst  out  of  the  win- 
dows, and  the  house  was  quickly  all  on  a  light  flame. 
No  noise  was  heard  of  the  other  five  who  perished  ;  and. 
it  is  very  questionable,  whether  more  than  one  of  thenx 
moved  out  of  their  beds.  The  old  house  was  also  burnt^ 
and  almost  everything  in  it,  but  the  people  were  saved. 


THE     EARLIEST     TIMES 


25^ 


through  the  great  goodness  of  God.  But  a  most  dread- 
ful sight  it  was,  in  the  morning,  to  see  the  five  bodies 
frying  in  the  fire,  among  the  timbers  fallen  down  into 
the  cellar,  till  towards  the  evening,  when  the  few  almost 
consumed  fragments,  without  heads  or  limbs  were  gath- 
ered, put  into  one  coffin  and  buried."  These  houses 
stood  just  east  of  where  the  currier  shop  of  C.  O.  Green, 
now  is. 

The  labors  of  the  pioneers  were  great  and  their 
amusements  few ;  their  books  and  papers  were  very 
few,  if  any.  Their  houses  were  scattered  at  a  distance 
from  each  other,  and  when  these  far-away  neighbors 
gathered  together  on  winter  evenings  before  some  blaz- 
ing log  fire,  they  made  what  fun  they  could  for  each 
other,  and  often  for  entertainment  resorted  to  the  ways 
of  the  ancient  Britons,  who  portrayed  in  rhyme  any 
notable  event  which  took  place,  and  the  stories  of  many 
unimportant  doings  have  come  down  to  later  times  hy 
this  means.  In  our  forefathers'  days  all  communities 
had  their  rhymesters  and  fun  was  generally  the  object  of 
their  verses.  There  was  an  eccentric  individual  whp 
lived  here  about  1740  by  the  name  of  Tombolin  and  he 
seems  to  have  made  considerable  sport  among  his 
townsmen,  for  we  find  that  more  than  one  comic  rhyme 
was  made  and  sung  about  him.  He  lived  on  the  West- 
boro  road  not  far  from  the  house  where  Hiram  C.  Reed 
now  lives,  and  while  absent  from  home  one  day  the 
house  took  fire  and  Mrs.  Tombolin,  being  alone,  had  to 


26  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

do  the  work  of  a  whole  fire  department,  so  it  cannot  be 
considered  strange  that  the  flames  became  uncontrol- 
able,  and  she  so  bewildered  that  as  the  song  says,  "All 
that  she  saved  was  her  tea-kettle  lid. "'  After  this  misfor- 
tune Tombolin  built  another  habitation  for  himself  on 
land  that  is  still  called  "The  Tombolin  "  and  is  owned 
by  \Vm.  Rice  and  Geo.  W.  Lyon  of  Chicago,  the  latter 
(widely  known  in  musical  circles)  receiving  it  from  his 
father,  Captain  Thomas  Lyon,  who  was  formerly  a  large 
land  owner  in  Clinton  and  built  the  mills  on  the  Assabet 
in  Northboro,  where  ]Milo  Hildreth  now  manufactures 
shell  jewelry  and  combs,  after  which  he  took  up  his 
residence  in  Shrewsbury  for  some  years.  The  songs 
about  old  Tombolin  are  nearly  extinct,  only  a  few  frag- 
ments remain  in  the  memories  of  elderly  people  and  the 
writer  of  this  memorial  has  not  been  able  to  ascertain  if 
there  is  a  printed  copy  in  existence.  One  of  the  rhymes 
ran  something;-  in  this  wise  and  shows  what  manner  of 
literature  delighted  the  hard-working,  fun-loving,  un- 
trained heroes  of  those  rough,   "good  old  times."' 

THE   SONG   OF   TOMBOLIN. 
Tombolin  was  a  Scotchman  born. 
His  shoes  were  out  and  his  stocking  torn, 
The  calf  of  his  leg  came  down  to  his  shin  ; 
Lm  a  nice  good  figure,  says  Tombolin. 
Tombolin  had  no  breeches  to  wear, 
So  he  got  his  mother  to  make  him  a  pair, 
Flesh  side  out  and  the  wool  side  in ; 
They're  warmer  so,  says  Tombolin. 


THE    EARLIEST    TIMES.  2 J 

Tombolin  wanted  new  stockings  to  wear, 
So  he  got  his  old  grandmarm  to  knit  him  a  pair; 
For  want  of  a  needle  she  knit  with  a  pin ; 
They're  delicate  wearing,  says  Tombolin. 

Tombolin,  his  wife  and  her  mother 
All  went  over  the  bridge  together  ; 
The  bridge  broke  down,  they  all  fell  in  ; 
^'The  deuce  go  with  you,"  said  Tombolin, 

Leather  breeches  were  by  no  means  uncommon  then, 
and  not  only  breeches  but  aprons  and  coats  were  also 
made  from  the  undressed  leather  as  it  came  from  the 
tanning.  If  the  Shrewsbury  school  boys  of  to-day  in 
their  collars  and  neckties  and  fine  cloth  suits,  could  look 
into  the  school-room  of  Dennis  Smith  in  1770,  they 
would  be  greatly  astonished  at  seeing  the  boys  clad  in 
leather  breeches  and  aprons.  There  is  a  story  that  a 
Scotchman  visiting  in  town  called  at  the  school  and  was 
so  surprised  at  the  leather  clothes  of  the  boys,  that  he 
asked  the  teacher  if  they  were  all  the  sons  of  black- 
smiths, or  why  it  was  that  they  wore  leather  aprons  { 
This  amused  the  children,  for  leather  clothing  was  quite 
the  fashion  then  in  America. 


THE    FIRST   MINISTER  AND   OTHER 
WORTHIES. 


ALTHOUGH  the  first  meeting-house  was  raised  in 
1 72 1  there  was  no  settled  minister  in  Shrewsbury 
until  the  Rev.  Job  Gushing  was  ordained  here  De- 
cember 4th,  1723.  and  the  churcli  consisting  of  sixteen 
persons  then  gathered  for  the  first  time  in  the  new 
building.  INIr.  Gushing  was  a  grandson  of  ^Matthew 
Gushing  and  his  wife  Nazareth  Pitcher,  who  came  from 
Norfolk,  England,  with  five  children  and  arrived  in  Bos- 
ton on  the  loth  of  August,  1638,  on  the  ship  Diligent, 
John  ]\Iartin  of  Ipswich,  ^Master,  and  settted  in  Hing- 
ham,  where  fifty-six  years  after,  the  future  minister  of 
the  Shrewsbury  church  was  born.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
he  was  graduated  from  Harvard  Gollege.  After  being 
settled  here  he  received  a  grant  of  land,  ''house  lot 
No.  22,  granted  to  the  first  minister,  which  with  other 
<^'-rants  made  to  him  contained  some  of  the  best  land  in 
town."  He  built  a  parsonage  on  his  land  and  married 
in  1727  ]Mary,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Prentice  of  Lan- 
caster. This  house  stood  on  the  spot  east  from  the 
Town  Hall,  where  now  stands  the  house  owned  by  Mrs. 


11 


L 


THE    FIRST    MINISTER    x\ND    OTHER    WORTHIES  3 1 

Arunah  Harlow  and  which  was  built  by  the  Rev.  George 
Allen,  who  lived  there  during  his  pastorate  in  town. 
Mr.  Cushing's  house  was  a  fine  one  for  the  times  and 
stood  one  hundred  years.  ]Mr.  Josiah  G.  Stone,  a  great- 
grandson  of  jNIr.  Gushing,  was  born  there  and  has  fur- 
nished from  memory  suggestions  for  the  drawing  of  the 
house,  which  was  done  by  his  son  Henry  J.  Stone  and 
from  which  the  engraving  was  made.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  architect  departed  somewhat  from  the  common 
rule  of  building.  There  was  the  great  stone  chimney 
with  a  brick  top,  which  most  houses  had,  but  the  rooms 
were  higher  and  the  windows  larger,  and  the  house  had  an 
appearance  of  dignity  quite  proper,  as  belonging  to  the 
minister,  the  man  who  held  the  highest  office  in  the  town. 
Mr.  Gushing  received  sixty  pounds  settlement  and  sixty 
pounds  per  year  for  two  years  ;  after  that,  four  pounds  ad- 
ditional each  year  until  it  should  rise  to  eighty  pounds. 
He  remained  the  minister  here  until  the  year  1760,  when,  in 
the  heat  of  an  August  day,  while  he  was  binding  sheaves 
in  the  field,  he  suddenly  fell  to  the  earth  and  died  before 
aid  could  reach  him.  The  spot  where  he  fell  is  pointed 
out  in  the  field  behind  Mr.  Josiah  Stone's  house. 

The  communion  service  purchased  at  the  time  of  the 
organization  of  the  church  in  1723  was  of  highly  pol- 
ished pewter.  The  pieces  shown  in  the  engraving  are 
upon  the  original  communion  cloth,  which  was  pre- 
sented to  the  church  by  Madam  Gushing.  In  Dr.  Sum- 
ner's time,  it  being  somewhat  worn,   the  ladies  of  the 


3^ 


OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 


church  presented  it  to  Mrs.  Sumner  and  purchased  a 
new  one.  The  okl  one,  ^^•hich  is  still  in  the  Sumner 
family,  is  of  fine  damask,  into  which  is  curiously  woven 
a  representation  of  the  Old  Testament  story  of  Caleb 
and  Joshua  and  those  who  went  with  them  to  search  the 
land  of  Canaan  to  see  whether  the  Israelites  would  be 


FIRST    COMMUNION    SERVICE. 


able  to  go  up  and  possess  it.  The  portion  of  the  cloth 
yet  remaining  contains,  it  is  evident,  the  whole  design, 
as  the  edges  show  that  it  was  repeated.  At  the  top  of 
the  pattern  are  the  two  men  returning  with  the  huge 
bunch  of  grapes  suspended  from  a  pole  borne  upon  their 
shoulders.      High  above  the  pole  reaches  the  great  stem 


THE    FIRST    MINISTER    AND    OTHER    WORTHIES  ^^ 

■showing  where  it  was  cut  from  the  vine,  the  grapes  hang 
down  to  the  knees  of  the  men  and  the  leaves  and  tendrils 
compare  with  them  in  size.  Oi^ie  hand  of  each  man  is 
upon  the  pole,  while  in  the  other  he  carries  a  basket 
containing  the  figs  and  pomegranates  which  he  had 
brought  from  "The  land  that  floweth  with  milk  and 
honey."  Below  these  figures  is  the  Tabernacle  with  its 
curtains.  Moses  and  Aaron  are  prostrate  before  it. 
Above  is  a  representation  of  God  in  a  cloud  with  up- 
lifted hands  pronouncing  judgment  upon  the  people  for 
their  distrust  and  rebellion.  At  one  side,  referrme"  to  the 
portion  of  Scripture  where  the  story  may  be  found,  are 
the  words— NVMER  XIII  CAP  MOYES.  Below  these 
are  depicted  the  walled  cities  of  the  giants,  their  tem- 
ples, birds  on  the  wing,  and  trees  loaded  with  fruit. 
Still  further  down  and  completing  the  design  are  the  fig- 
ures of  two  men  in  armor,  one  hand  of  each  holdino-  a 
long  spear  which  rests  upon  the  grovmd — and  the  words 
CALEB— lOSVE.  (Caleb,  Joshua).  Between  them  is  a 
tall  growing  vine,  showing  even  its  branching  roots  and 
bearing  large  clusters  of  grapes.  On  either  side  is  the 
word  NEHEL,  which  signifies  a  possession.  The  word 
PHARAN  also  occurs  in  the  design  and  is  the  same  as 
Paran.  The  story  is  contained  in  the  13th  and  14th 
chapters  of  Numbers.  The  ancient  spelling  of  the  words 
proves  the  cloth  to  be  very  ancient  and  the  tradition  is 
that  it  was  brought  from  the  old  country  in  the  IMay- 
flower,  in  1620. 


34  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

Col.  Job  Gushing  was  a  son  of  the  minister,  and  was 
chosen  Captain  of  a  military  company  raised  in  Shrews- 
bury in  1774  and  with  it  started  for  Lexington  at  the 
first  announcement  of  war.  We  hear  of  him  next  at 
Cambridge  with  his  men,  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill.  After  his  promotion  as  Colonel  of  the 
Sixth  Regiment  he  was  in  that  part  of  the  army  to  which 
Gen.  Burgoyne  with  four  thousand  seven  hundred  men 
surrendered  on  the  17th  of  October,  1777,  when  they 
made  him  march  to  the  then  derisive  tune  of  '"Yankee 
Doodle."  After  the  war  Col.  Cushing  built  a  tavern 
near  the  common.  Gen.  Washington  once  stopped  here 
for  refreshment  and  it  is  said  that  Jerome  Bonaparte  and 
his  suit  halted  here  in  passing  through  town,  and  after 
dinner  went  swimming  in  Wyman's  mill-pond.  Samuel 
Haven  bought  the  tavern  of  Colonel  Cushing  and  in 
1808  added  a  store,  for  many  years  keeping  the  house 
open  to  the  public.  From  time  to  time  other  additions 
were  made  until  it  presented  quite  an  imposing  appear- 
ance and  afforded  ample  accommodations  for  the  travel- 
ling public.  It  was  a  popular  stopping-place  for  team- 
sters, and  the  corral  near  the  road  was  usually  filled 
with  horses  at  night,  the  stamping  of  their  hoofs  being 
heard  at  all  hours.  After  a  succession  of  many  landlords, 
the  tavern  was  removed  in  1S71  to  give  place  to  the 
present  Town  Hall.  Detached  parts  of  it  still  stand  in 
different  places,  three  dwelling  houses  having  been  made 
of  it ;   the  largest  and  oldest  part  is  nearly  opposite  its 


THE    FIRST    MINISTER    AND    OTHER    WORTHIES  35 

■old  situation,  and  its  ancient  date  is  shown  by  the  fash- 
ion of  its  architectural  finishings.  Dr.  Flint's  journal 
says  :  "April  1808 — Col.  Gushing  returned  from  Canada 
and  attended  lecture,  at  meeting  on  Sunday,  at  Sacre- 
ment,  at  Town  INIeeting  on  IMonday  and  deceased  the 
i6th, "  The  following  paper  shows  his  faithfulness  in 
attending  to  his  public  duties  : 

''Samuel  Jenison,  Wm.  Jenison  &  Tylor  Curtis  all  of 
Worcester  Drove  their  Teams  Loaded  by  my  Dwelling 
House  on  Sunday  Morning  about  5  minutes  past  6 
o'clock  on  7  day  of  April  1782 

Job  Cushing,  Warden 
To  Artemas  Ward  Esqr  " 

"Honorable  Thomas  Flint  came  from  Matlock  in  Der- 
byshire England,  to  Concord  in  1638,  possessed  of  wealth, 
talents,  and  a  christian  character."  His  great  grandson 
Dr  Edward  Flint  came  here  from  Concord  in  1756  and 
took  the  practice  left  by  Dr.  Joshua  Smith,  who  died 
early  that  year.  Patriotism  burning  in  his  veins  he  joined 
the  army  and  went  as  chief  "chirurgeon"  in  Col. 
Ruggle's  regiment  in  the  expedition  against  Canada.  He 
remained  but  a  short  time  in  the  service  and  returned 
home  to  resume  his  practice,  which  we  read,  was  "ex- 
tensive and  abundant,"  and  that  he  added  efficacy  to  his 
medicine  by  administering  at  the  same  time  cheerful 
stories,  which  rarely  failed  to  revive  the  spirits  of  his  de- 
.sponding   patients.      Flis   son  Austin  was   born  in   1760 


36  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

and  received  his  education  at  the  grammar  school  of  ^Nlr^ 
Xathan  Goddard,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College  and 
native  of  this  town,  who  kept  a  school  here  many  years. 
The  remuneration  that  he  received  for  his  labors  with 
the  Shrewsbury  youths  may  be  judged  by  the  following 
bill  signed  by  himself  : 

"Shrewsbury.  [March  3d — 1777 
Then   reed,    of  Artemas  Ward  Esqr.  Eighteen  Pounds 
Lawful  Money  in  full  for  Schooling  his  son  Artemas  forty 
weeks. 

Resd.   P.  Xathan  Goddard. " 

Austin  Flint's  medical  education  was  received  from 
his  father.  In  1777,  when  on  the  i6th  of  August  a  call 
came  to  Worcester  County  for  men  to  march  to  the  re- 
lief of  Gen.  Stark  at  Bennington,  Austin  Flint  then  only 
seventeen  years  of  age,  joined  a  large  company  of 
mounted  militia  and  started  immediately  for  Vermont. 
They  rode  the  first  day  nearly  sixty  miles  and  reached 
Hadley  the  next  morning  before  breakfast.  To  their 
disappointment  they  there  found  counter-orders  ;  the  bat- 
tle with  Burgoyne's  troops  was  over,  and  the  Americans 
victorious,  having  put  the  British  to  flight.  Nothing  was 
left  for  the  Shrewsbury  boys  to  do  but  to  march  home 
again.  Having  come  so  near  to  being  in  a  fight  with 
the  enemy,  young  Flint  determined  to  try  again  ;  the 
next  month  he  enlisted  as  private  in  Col.  Job  Cushing's 
regiment  and   had   the  gratification  of  being  present  at 


THE    FIRST    MINISTER    AND    OTHER    WORTHIES  37 

the  surrender  of  Burgoyne.  Asa  Wheelock,  another 
Shrewsbury  boy  one  year  older  than  Austin,  was  his 
companion  through  the  campaign  and  shared  with  him 
its  hardships  and  glories.  Austin  was  taken  sick  in  con- 
sequence of  the  fatigues  and  unaccustomed  hardships 
he  was  obliged  to  endure  and  was  sent  home  ;  however, 
after  his  recovery  he  once  more  entered  the  Army,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  as  surgeon  in  Colonel  Drury's 
regiment  and  served  at  West  Point. 

We  hear  of  him  again  in  1786  wdien  the  troops  were 
called  out  to  quell  the  Shays  rebellion,  and  he  was 
with  General  Lincoln  in  his  memorable  night  march 
from  Hadley  to  Petersham  through  the  trackless  drifts  of 
a  blinding  snowstorm.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three 
Austin  Flint  settled  m  Leicester  as  medical  practitioner, 
and  married  Elizabeth  Henshaw,  daughter  of  Colonel 
William  Henshaw  of  that  town.  He  became  an  emi- 
nent physician  and  noted  far  and  wide  for  his  skill  in  his 
profession.  In  looking  through  a  package  of  papers  now 
yellow  with  age,  though  the  ink  is  as  black  is  ever,  the 
writer  of  this  came  across  one,  of  which  the  following  is 
a  copy  : 

"To  the  Honorable  the  Board  of  Counsellors  for  the 
State  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay. " 

"Whereas  there  is  no  Justice  of  the  Peace  resident  in 
the  Town  of  Shrewsbury,  The  inhabitants  at  their  An- 
nual Town  meeting  the  Third  of  this  histant,  (Agreeable 
to   an   article   in   the  warrant)  Voted   to  recommend  to 


^8  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

your  Honours  ^Nlr.  Edward  Flint,  as  a  Gentleman  Well 
Qualified  to  officiate  in  the  capacity  of  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  We  the  Subscribers  think  it  incumbent  on  us  as 
select  men  of  the  Town  to  Certify  that  we  think  the 
Town  have  made  a  wise  Choice.  — And  Pray  that  if  your 
Honours  Please  the  above  named  'Sir.  Edward  Elint  may 
be  commissioned  for  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  the  Count}^ 
of  Worcester. 

Daniel  Hemixway 

Charles  Bouker 

David  Taylor. 

Select  men  of  Shrewsbury. 
Shrewsbury,  jNIarch  8,  1777.'' 

One  of  the  first  tanners  in  the  town  of  Shrewsbury  was 
Nathaniel  Whittemore,  who,  if  we  judge  by  his  account 
book,  was  doing  a  good  business  here  in  1754.  The 
precise  location  of  his  house  and  currier  shop  is  not 
known,  but  his  tan  vats  were  in  the  lot  where  the  old 
cider  mill  now  stands  on  the  Ward  Homestead,  and  the 
lot  is  to  this  day  called  the  "tan  vat."  An  immense 
number  of  calf  skms  were  tanned  by  Whittemore  to  be' 
made  into  aprons  for  the  Shrewsbury  men  and  boys,  as 
well  as  skins  of  all  kinds  for  various  uses.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1760,  Silas  Heminw^ay  of  Framingham  came  to  work 
one  year  for  him,  and  for  his  labor  he  w^s  to  receive- 
sixteen  pounds.  Whittemore  died  in  1764,  and  in  his 
last  sickness  was  attended  by  four  physicians,  Edward 
Flint,  Samuel  Crosby,  Ebenezer  ]Morse  and  John  Honey- 


THE    FIRST    MINISTER    AND    OTHER    WORTHIES  39 

wood,  the  latter  being  from  Worcester,  and  it  appears 
that  tlie  united  efforts  of  these  four  eminent  and  skillful 
men  failed  to  save  him  from  an  untimely  end.  Their 
entire  charges  for  services,  amounted  to  eight  pounds 
ten  shillings. 

Daniel  Harris  was  his  nurse  and  also  his  grave-digger  ; 
for  these  combined  services  he  charged  two  pounds  and 
six  shillings.  Nathaniel  Allen  furnished  the  articles  for 
the  mourning  :  his  bill  was  sixteen  pounds,  seventeen 
shillings.  Jotham  How's  bill  for  shoes  for  the  widow 
Sarah  was  "Two  shillings  &  fourpence,  three  farthings  & 
three  Fifteenths  In  full  for  one  pair  of  Shoes  made  for  ye 
sd  Nathaniel's  widow  as  mourning  shoes 

Reed  Jotham  How." 

The  judge  allowed  her  sundry  articles  from  her  hus- 
band's estate  for  housekeeping  amounting  "in  ye  whole 
to  thirteen  pounds  eleven  shillings  and  seven  pence" 
also  twelve  pounds  in  money.  The  cost  of  settling  the 
estate  was  twenty,  six  pounds,  eleven  shillings  four 
pence,  three  farthings  and  three  tenths."  The  house, 
barn,  currier  shop  and  bark  house  were  all  sold  at  pub- 
lic vendue  the  year  after  Whittemore's  death. 

Not  long  after  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  the 
Knowltons  settled  here,  Joseph  and  Ezekiel ;  the  latter 
came  from  Manchester  with  his  family  and  made  a  home 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  on  the  place  now  owned 
by  Thomas  Henry  Knowlton.  Deacon  Ezekiel  married 
Susanna,  daughter  of  Captain  Morgan  and  his  wife,  Su~ 


40  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

sanna  Pitts,  from  England.  There  is  a  family  tradition 
that  this  Susanna  Pitts  married  beneath  her  station  in 
accepting  Captain  Morgan.  He  died  on  the  voyage 
hither,  and  she  found  herself  not  only  a  widow  in  a 
strange  land  but  alienated  from  her  family  beyond  the 
sea.  She  landed  friendless  and  homeless,  with  her  little 
child,  and  while  wandering  upon  the  shore  wringing  her 
hands  in  despair,  she  was  found  by  a  certain  Mr.  Clark, 
who  was  moved  with  pity  for  her  sad  condition  and 
proved  that  "  pity  is  akin  to  love,''  for  he  wooed  and 
won  her  from  her  grief  and  gave  her  a  happy  home. 
The  little  fatherless  Susanna  Morgan  became  the  wife  of 
Deacon  Knowlton,  and  their  youngest  child  Thomas  in- 
herited their  home,  a  two  story  house  which  was  burnt 
in  1776  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  Xails  were 
so  scarce  at  that  period  that  it  was  with  difficulty  enough 
were  procured  to  build  a  small  one-and-a-half  story  house 
•on  the  old  site. 

In  this  little  home  he  reared  his  family  of  nine  children; 
the  two  who  were  born  before  the  destructive  fire  died  in 
consequence  of  the  inevitable  exposure.  Kind  neighbors 
furnished  the  seeds  with  which  to  plant  a  garden  from 
their  own  scanty  store  ;  many  of  them  were  carefully  tied 
in  bits  of  cotton  cloth,  and  these  small  pieces  were  so 
precious  to  the  family  who  had  lost  everything,  that  the 
thrifty  mother  sewed  them  together  for.  a  dish-cloth, 
necessity  then  as  ever  being  the  "mother  of  invention. " 

The  story  of  Captain  Thomas'  dog  has  feasted  the  ears 


THE    FIRST    MINISTER    AND    OTHER    WORTHIES  4 1 

of  his  descendants  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generations. 
Sheep  were  mysteriously  slaughtered  in  the  south-east 
part  of  Grafton.  In  due  time  evidence  pointed  to  the 
Captain's  dog  "Ranger"  as  the  perpetrator  of  the  mis- 
chief; his  master  was  interviewed  on  the  subject  but 
thought  it  impossible  that  Ranger  could  be  guilty,  espe- 
cially as  he  lay  nightly  before  the  hearth  in  his  master's 
sleeping  room,  and  was  always  in  his  place  in  the  morn- 
ing. So  confident  were  the  accusers  that  he  was  the 
culprit,  that  the  captain  promised  to  watch  the  following 
night.  He  retired  but  not  to  sleep.  The  dog  who  was 
in  his  accustomed  place  arose  and  crept  to  an  open  win- 
dow beneath  which  there  was  a  sloping  shed  roof;  crawl- 
ing out  on  this  roof  he  easily  reached  the  ground  and 
disappeared ;  some  hours  after  the  dog  returned  by  the 
samo  way  and  again  camped  before  the  fire,  his  wakeful 
master  with  sorrow  and  consternation  in  his  tones  said 
"Ranger  you  must  die  for  this,"  and  gave  himself  up  to 
his  needed  sleep.  The  next  morning  the  dog  was  gone 
and  was  never  seen  or  heard  of  again. 

The  Captain  had  a  talent  for  music  and  for  a  long  pe- 
riod led  the  church  choir.  The  grandson  who  still  owns 
and  occupies  the  homestead  has  so  renovated  and  added 
to  the  little  home  of  Revolutionary  times  that  it  would 
hardly  be  recognized  now  by  its  former  occupants. 
Next  to  this  homestead  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
town,  lies  what  is  known  as  the  Witherby  farm. 

Captain  Silas  Witherby  was  the  first  person  known  to 


42  OLD    TIMES    IK    SHREWSBURY 

have  owned  and  occupied  this  land,  having  come  to 
Shrewsbury  from  Marlboro.  Since  his  day  five  genera- 
tions have  played  in  its  brooks  and  drank  of  its  cool  and 
refreshing  springs.  Ward's  ' '  History  of  Shrewsbury" 
says  that  Captain  Silas  married  Thankful,  probably  the 
daughter  of  ]\Iaj.  John  Keyes ;  this  is  confirmed  by  old 
records  which  have  more  recently  come  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  family.  They  were  married  in  1728.  At  a 
later  date  it  is  recorded  that  they  were  dismissed  to  the 
church  m  Grafton ;  this,  however,  does  not  necessitate  a 
change  of  residence  and  none  appears  to  have  been  made. 
It  is  thought  that  at  one  time  this  tract  of  land  may  have 
belonged  to  the  township  of  Grafton.  Across  the  valley 
on  the  opposite  hill  was  the  John  Brooks  farm,  now 
known  as  Kimballville.  The  then  prevalent  and  much 
dreaded  disease  small-pox  had  attacked  the  inmates  of 
the  farm-house  there,  when  their  cat  inconsiderately 
came  over,  as  was  its  wont,  to  have  a  tilt  with  the  With- 
erby  cat.  ]Mrs.  Thankful  in  trying  to  rescue  her  favorite, 
caught  the  other  cat  and  thus  took  the  dread  disease, 
which  to  her  proved  fatal,  and  she  was  laid  to  rest  in  a 
remote  nook  of  the  home  farm.  Early  the  following 
year  Captain  Silas  died  and  at  his  own  request  was  laid 
beside  his  wife.  Their  third  child,  Lt.  Thomas  Witherby, 
although  a  wanderer  for  a  time,  returned  to  the  home- 
stead with  his  family  from  New  Hampshire  and  died 
therein  1827  aged  81.  The  name  "Thomas  '  seems  to 
have  been  handed  down  in  the  family  from  an  early  date, 


THE    WITHERBY   PLACE. 


THE    FIRST    MINISTER    AND    OTHER  WORTHIES  43 

for  we  learn  by  ancient  records  that  one  Thomas  Wither- 
by  just  escaped  martyrdom  by  burning  at  the  stake, 
-through  the  death  of  ''Bloody  jNIary"  Nov.  17th,  1558, 
which  was  three  days  before  the  time  fixed  upon  for  his 
execution.  In  his  life  he  exemplified  the  motto  of  his 
coat  of  Arms  ''Tenex  in  Fides."  Again  it- fell  to  the  lot 
of  the  third  child,  Thomas  Witherby,  Jr. ,  to  keep  the 
homestead.  Perhaps  the  lodestone  which  held  him  was 
the  lovely  daughter  of  his  nearest  neighbor.  Captain 
Thomas  Knowlton,  for  she  came  to  grace  his  home  and 
there  dispensed  an  open-handed  hospitality  for  sixty-six 
years ;  there,  too,  she  gathered  to  her  loving  heart  the 
"  mitherless  bairns  "  of  more  than  one  generation.  The 
joys  and  sorrows,  the  festivities  and  merry-makings  here 
witnessed  are  past  recording.  It  is  related  that  at  one 
time  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sumner  came  to  make  a  pasto- 
ral call,  the  family  rum  bottle  was  found  to  be  empty,  a 
most  mortifying  occurrence  in  those  days,  and  one  of  the 
boys  was  called  to  go  in  haste  to  the  nearest  neighbors, 
to  borrow  the  needful,  such  friendly  accommodation  be- 
ing not  infrequent  then.  A  great  tumbler  was  filled  with 
sweetened  water  and  rum  ;  a  toasted  cracker  on  the  top 
gave  this  a  delicious  flavor.  The  beverage  was  passed 
first  to  the  honored  guest,  who  taking  the  glass  in  his 
hand,  told  a  story,  took  a  draught  and  passed  it  to  the 
other  guest.  Captain  Thomas  Knowlton,  who  in  turn  told 
his  story,  drank  a  portion  and  passed  it  to  "mine  host," 
who  followed  the  example  of  the  others.     Three  times  it 


44  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

travelled  round  the  circle,  and  who  can  doubt  that  each 
time  more  zest  was  infused  into  the  story  telling  through 
the  exhilarating  influence  of  the  toddy. 

When  Susanna  Knowlton  came  into  the  family  John 
Keyes  Witherby,  son  of  Silas,  was  still  living.  In  his 
youth  he  was  very  bright  and  athletic,  and  often  amused 
his  friends  by  telling  their  fortunes  with  cards.  One  day 
being  sent  to  the  pasture  to  catch  a  horse  he  took  out  his 
cards  to  learn  if  he  was  o^oins;-  to  the  ball  which  was  soon 
to  be  given.  The  fates  were  against  him  ;  he  was  not  to 
go.  Before  the  day  was  over  he  cut  his  foot  so  badly  as 
to  become  disabled,  and  he  determined  he  would  never 
touch  another  card.  A  few  years  later  he  met  with  an 
accident  which  laid  him  on  his  bed  for  the  rest  of  his  life, 
thirty  years.  His  astute  mind  was  given  to  the  study  of 
the  Bible  and  he  became  a  most  intelligent  and  godly 
man. 


THE    PEASE    TAVERN. 


THE  king's  highway  in  Shrewsbury  was  well  sup- 
plied with  taverns  for  the  entertainment  of  trav- 
ellers, and  in  1784  there  were  three  noted  inns 
here, — Farrar's,  Baldwin's  and  Howe's.  On  the  corner 
formed  by  the  junction  of  the  "great  road"  with  the 
road  to  Westboro,  about  one  mile  from  the  Northboro 
line,  stands  an  old  house  of  the  last  century,  conspicuous 
for  its  weather-beaten  appearance  and  its  substantial 
look  which  speaks  of  better  days  long  since  past.  This 
is  the  "Farrar  Tavern"  or,  as  it  has  more  recently  been 
called,  the  ''Pease  Tavern."  jMaj.  John  Farrar,  an  army 
officer  of  good  report,  kept  a  public  house  here  during 
the  Revolutionary  war,  and  entertained  the  military 
companies  as  they  passed  through  the  town.  He  was 
born  in  Concord  and  descended  from  Walkeline  de  Fer- 
rariis,  a  Norman  of  distinction,  attached  to  the  suite  of 
William,  Duke  of  Normandy,  before  the  invasion  of  1066. 
A  horseshoe  is  the  emblem  on  the  Farrar  coat  of  arms. 
In  1789,  when  on  his  way  to  Boston,  Gen.  Washington 
honored  the  Farrar  Tavern  with  his  presence  and  we  are 


46 


OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 


shown  the  place  in  the  east  front  room  where  he  sat  and 
drank  his  wine  while  his  inferiors  took  theirs  at  the  bar. 
When  it  became  known  that  the  hero  of  the  Revolu- 
tion was  to  pass  this  way,  the  school-children  received 
an  extra  lesson  in  makingr  their  manners,  that  thev  mieht 
greet  the  chieftain  with  proper  respect.  And  so  it  hap- 
pened, that  as  Gen.  Washington  was  riding  by  in  his 
carriage  drawn  by  two  bay  horses,  preceded  by  his 
guard  on  dapple  gray  horses,  his  attention  was  attracted 
to   a  row  of  children  on  each  side  of  the  road,  the  boys 


1H1-.    I'j-.v^t    TAVERN. 

on  one  side  making  their  bows  and  the  girls  sweeping 
their  graceful  courtesies  on  the  other.  The  outriders  in 
their  uniforms  bright  with  scarlet  cloth  and  gold  lace, 
were  so  splendid  that  the  children  hardly  noticed  the 
stopping  of  the  carriage,  until  a  gentleman  in  plain 
brown  dress  alighted  and  Washington  himself  stood  be- 
fore them,  speaking  to  every  child  and  shaking  hands 
with  the  older  ones.      John  Farrar's  little  daughter  Han- 


THE    PEASE    TAVERN  47 

iiah  was  among  them  ;  her  expectations  had  been  greatly 
excited  concerning  the  unusual  guest  for  whom  such  a 
stir  had  been  made,  and  who  was  to  receive  such  dis- 
tinguishing marks  of  respect  from  the  children,  her 
imagination  picturing  him  as  some  buperior  being.  So 
when  the  tall  gentleman  in  the  plain  brown  suit  stepped 
from  the  carriage,  dressed  more  plainly  than  his  guard 
and  postillions,  and  she  became  aware  that  he  was  the 
great  Washington,  this  spirited  young  w^oman  of  ten, 
whose  noble  ancestor's  name  was  on  the  Roll  of  Battle 
Abbey,  refused  her  courtesy  and  turning  her  back  upon 
the  ''Father  of  his  Country'"  exclaimed,  "He  is  nothing 
but  a  man  ! '  Her  words,  accompanied  with  the  look  of 
intense  disQ^ust  on  her  face  amused  Washino^ton,  and 
calling  her  back  to  him,  he  presented  her  with  a  silver 
quarter.  This  quarter  is  still  preserved  in  the  family  as 
a  great  treasure.  The  Farrar  Tavern  was  a  popular  re- 
sort for  teamsters  going  to  and  from  Boston,  as  well  as 
for  military  companies.  Behind  the  house  was  a  large 
open  shed  for  the  protection  of  the  loaded  wagons  when 
the  weather  was  wet.  Another  shed  attached  to  the 
house  contained  benches  and  chairs  where  the  teamsters 
could  sit  while  w^aiting  for  their  suppers,  and  shelves  on 
which  they  could  put  their  baggage.  Under  this  shed, 
in  the  side  of  the  house,  holes  were  cut,  one  above 
another  from  the  ground  to  the  second  story.  These 
holes  were  of  the  size  to  admit  the  toe  of  a  man's  boot 
and  by  these,  and  the  dexterous  use  of  their  hands  and 


48  OLD      TIMES     IX     SHREWSBURY 

feet,  the  men  were  expected  to  reach  through  a  window 
their  sleeping  apartments.  This  arrangemen.t  seems  to 
have  been  made  for  the  convenience  of  both  travellers 
and  the  household,  as  the  former  could  come  and  go  at 
pleasure,  and  the  latter  be  not  disturbed. 

The  outside  door  at  the  back  of  the  house  opens  di- 
rectly into  the  kitchen  and  we  are  told  that  the  logs  for 
the  lire  were  drawn  in  at  this  door  by  a  horse  and  rolled 
over  into  the  fireplace.  The  liquor  for  the  bar  was  in 
the  kitchen  and  was  served  through  a  window  opening 
into  the  west  front  room  where  the  bar  was.  The  win- 
dow is  yet  in  its  place,  as  when  the  bar-maid  passed  in 
the  sling  and  toddy,  but  it  is  concealed  by  the  modern 
wall-paper.  Near  the  bar  can  be  seen  the  spot  where 
the  men  used  to  pitch  knives  for  the  first  drink  and 
many  names  of  the  frequenters  of  this  old  bar-room  are 
cut  in  the  wood  mantle  above  the  fireplace,  but  ihe 
stories  that  made  the  place  merry  are  all  unwritten.  In 
the  north-east  room  upstairs,  the  Free  Masons  held  their 
meetings  ;  there  is  but  one  door  to  the  room  and  no 
closet  where  eaves-droppers  might  perchance  learn  their 
secrets.  This  is  still  called  the  "Mason's  room."'  Across 
the  entry  is  the  old  dancing  hall  divided  in  the  middle 
by  a  swing  partition,  which  could  be  raised  and  fastened 
to  the  ceiling  by  a  hook  when  the  room  was  needed  for 
the  dances. 

The  house  is  built  after  the  old-time  fashion — two 
rooms   in  front,  a  long  kitchen  in  the  back  with  a  chim- 


THE    PEASE    TAVERN  49 

ney  in  the  middle.  Heavy  finished  beams  show  around 
the  rooms  and  in  their  corners,  and  across  the  ceiling  is 
the  piece  known  as  the  "summer."  The  windows  are 
narrow  and  high  above  the  floor  in  the  quaint  old  style. 

Major  John  Farrar  died  in  1793  and  an  extract  from  a 
letter  written  by  General  Ward,  then  in  Congress  in 
Philadelphia,  to  his  son,  shows  the  regard  he  had  for  his 
near  neighbor.  "I  sympathize  with  Mrs.  Farrar  in  the 
loss  of  my  sincere  friend  and  her  kind  husband.  I  es- 
teem his  death  a  public  loss,  not  only  as  a  good  neigh- 
bor, but  as  a  real  friend  to  good  government.  I  have 
grounds  to  hope  he  has  made  a  happy  change,  and  I 
pray  God  to  take  his  family  into  his  holy  protection  and 
defend  them  agamst  all  the  darts  of  their  adversaries.  I 
make  no  doubt  they  have  many,  unless  the  hearts  of 
some  are  changed  since  I  left  Shrewsbury  ;  he  had  some 
open  enemies  and  many  secret  ones,  I  fully  believe." 

But  the  name  John  Farrar  is  not  associated  with  the 
tavern  in  this  century  as  closely  as  that  of  Levi  Pease. 
He  was  born  in  Enfield,  Connecticut,  in  1740.  His 
father  married  Miriam  Pease,  a  distant  relative,  whose 
grandfather,  Robert  Pease,  with  his  brother  John,  re- 
moved from  Sudbury  to  Enfield  in  1679  and  lived  the 
first  winter  in  an  excavation  which  they  made  in  the 
side  of  a  hill,  about  forty  rods  east  of  the  spot  where 
stood  the  old  meetino^-house. 

o 

Levi  Pease  married  and  lived  in  Somers,  Connecticut ; 
from    there    he    went    to     Blandford,    Mass.,    where    he 


50  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

^vorked  at  the   blacksmith's  trade  and  was  Hvinor  there 

o 

at  the  commencement  of  the  Revohitionary  war.  He 
was  a  member  of  a  newly  formed  military  company,  and 
one  Sabbath  afternoon  when  the  people  were  assembled 
at  the  meeting-house  for  public  worship,  a  messenger 
arrived  callino^  the  men  to  arms,  for  the  war  had  becfun. 

o  '  o 

This  startling  announcement  brought  the  meeting  to  a 
sudden  close,  the  company  responded  on  the  instant  to 
the  call  of  their  Captain  and  they  at  once  started  on  theii 
march  toward  Boston.  He  was  with  the  Army  during 
the  whole  period  of  the  war,  doing  important  work  in 
various  ways  and  by  his  strict  attention  to  duty  meriting 
the  confidence  which  was  placed  in  him.  His  remarkable 
tact  and  shrewdness  rendered  him  successful  as  a  bearer 
of  despatches.  In  these  expeditions  he  travelled  on  foot 
■or  on  horseback  as  circumstances  demanded  ;  avoiding 
at  times  the  public  roads,  he  took  the  by-ways,  that  he 
might  protect  the  papers  entrusted  to  his  care  and  pre- 
vent being  suspected  by  the  tories.  When  his  course  lay 
across  a  lake,  he  chose  to  2:0  bv  nio^ht,  and  if  the  moon- 
light  threatened  to  reveal  him  to  suspicious  eyes,  he  lay 
upon  his  back  in  the  boat  and  used  his  hands  as  paddles. 
Many  perilous  undertakings  were  accomplished  while 
under  the  command  of  General  Thomas  on  the  northern 
frontier  and  he  nursed  him  in  his  last  sickness,  which 
was  small-pox.  General  Wadsworth  engaged  him  to  pur- 
chase horses  and  stores  and  trusted  him  with  large  sums 
of  money,  which  confidence  he  never  abused.      •'  On  the 


THE    PEASE    TAVERN 


51 


arrival  of  the  French  fleet  and  army  at  Newport,  he  was 
directed  to  purchase  horses  to  drag  their  artillery  to 
Yorktown  "  and  he  foraged  for  the  Army  on  its  march. 
Lafayette  was  a  warm  friend  of  his  and  found  his  keen, 
good  sense  and  excellent  judgment  invaluable  to  him. 

The  familiar  story  about  him  and  his  horses  will  not 
"be  out  of  place  here.  He  had  a  pair  of  horses  to  sell  at 
a  time  when  Washington  wished  to  purchase  and  an  ap- 
pointment was  made  for  a  meeting ;  Pease  was  a  few 
minutes  late,  and  ^^'ashington,  who  never  waited  for  any 
one,  was  gone  !  He  appears  to  have  profited  by  this  ex- 
perience, for  his  punctuality  afterward  became  prover- 
Toial. 

In  1783  Pease  went  to  Boston  to  start  a  new  enterprise, 
similar  to  one  projected  in  England  in  1669,  and  which 
was  destined  to  make  him  famous.  His  plan  was  to  es- 
tablish a  line  of  stages  to  run  between  Boston  and  Hart- 
ford, but  his  means  were  small  and  he  found  it  difficult 
to  persuade  any  one  to  engage  with  him  in  so  hazardous 
an  undertaking.  His  faith  in  ultimate  success  was  so 
great  that  he  was  not  easily  discouraged  and  he  turned 
for  aid  to  his  friend  Reuben  Sykes,  who  had  previously 
driven  a  stage  with  him  from  Somers  to  Hartford,,  a  dis= 
tance  of  twenty  miles.  Sykes  was  fifteen  years  younger 
than  Pease,  and  his  father  strongly  opposed  the  scheme 
and  tried  to  dissuade  his  son  from  taking  such  a  venture, 
telling  him  it  would  surely  fail  and  lodge  them  both  in 
jail  as  poor  debtors.      Rejecting  his  good  fathers  advice 


5'2. 


OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 


young  Sykes  went  his  own  way  and  joined  forces  witli 
the  ''dauntless  Captain."  ''Two  convenient  wagons" 
were  secured  and  October  20th,  1783,  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  they  left  Boston  and  Hartford  respectively.  Pease 
drove  the  west  bound  stage,  starting  from  the  sign  of  the 
"Lamb,"  stopping  over  night  at  ^Martin's  in  Northboro, 
passing  through  Worcester  next  day  and  resting  at  Rice's 
in  Brookfield.  The  third  day  took  him  through  Palmer 
to  his  home  in  Somers  and  on  the  fourth  day  Hartford 
was  reached.     A  few  trips  with  empty  stages  did  not  de- 


THE    OLD    MILE    STONE. 

ter  them  from  persevering  and  tlieir  business  soon  became 
prosperous.  The  plan  of  travel  was  changed  the  follow- 
ing ^lay,  when  Springfield  was  made  a  stopping-place 
and  the  river  crossed  at  that  point  or  at  Enfield.  By  the 
new  arrangement  the  stage  left  Boston  from  the  "Lion," 
^larlboro  street  ;  the  first  night's  halt  was  at  Far- 
rar's  in  Shrewsbury,  Spencer  being  reached  the  day  fol- 
lowing. Here  at  about  the  highest  point  between  Bos- 
ton   and  Springfield  the  passengeis  were  transferred  to 


THE    PEASE    TAVERN  5^ 

Sykes,  who  conveyed  them  to  Hartford.  The  fare  at 
this  time  was  fourpence  per  mile,  about  ten  dollars  from 
Boston  to  Hartford.  The  business  was  so  successfully 
carried  on  that  two  years  later  Pease  became  the  owner 
of  a  Boston  Inn  opposite  the  common  and  on  the  spot 
where  St.  Paul's  Church  now  stands,  which  was  there- 
after the  starting  point  for  his  stages.  The  line  was 
later  extended  to  New  York,  Talmage  Hall  and  Jacob 
Brown  driving  between  that  place  and  Hartford.  After 
November  15th,  1784,  Worcester  was  reached  from 
Boston  in  a  single  day,  Hartford  at  the  end  of  the  third 
day  and  New  York  three  days  later.  The  fare  was  re- 
duced to  threepence  per  mile  and  the  baggage  allowed 
to  each  person  was  fourteen  pounds. 

The  roads  were  in  a  poor  condition,  and  Captain  Pease 
with  his  usual  enterprise  and  energy,  interested  himself  in 
their  improvement  and  with  such  success  that  the  line 
was  extended  from  Portsmouth  to  Savannah,  Ga.  He 
made  the  first  contract  with  the  Government  for  carrying 
its  mails,  and  the  first  mail  in  this  new  service  passed 
through  Worcester  on  the  7th  of  January,  1786.  The 
Postmaster-General  reestablished  the  post  office  in 
Worcester  March  13th,  1786,  and  reappointed  Isaiah 
Thomas  his  deputy.  After  the  death  of  John  Farrar, 
Captain  Pease  bought  this  tavern  and  brought  his  family 
here.  Those  stage  days  were  great  days  in  the  villages 
along  the  line  and  when  Captain  Pease  driving  four-in- 
hand  awoke  the  echoes  among  the  hills  with  the  shrill 


54 


OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 


blast  from  his  horn,  announcing  the  arrival  of  the  stage 
coach,  all  was  excitement  until  the  cloud  of  dust  disap- 
peared and  the  echo  of  the  horn  died  away  in  the  dis- 
tance. When  Captain  Pease  became  too  feeble  to  hold  the 
reins  and  guide  the  horses,  he  entrusted  the  duty  to  a  ne- 
gro, under  whose  faithful  care  the  business  continued  to 
prosper.  The  master  could  now  ramble  about  his  farm, 
fishing  in  its  brooks,  while  his  little  granddaughter 
Eliza  carried  the  bait ;  or  accompanied  by  her  he  took 
the  luncheon  to  the  hay-makers,  and  together  they  would 
hsten  for  the  welcome  sound  of  the  horn  as  the  stage- 
coach came  rumbling  into  town.  In  winter  evenings, 
■when  the  grandchildren  gathered  about  the  fire  to  roast 
their  apples  and  chestnuts,  grandfather  Pease  entertained 
them  with  thrilling  tales  of  his  life  as  a  soldier  when  he 
with  great  peril  carried  despatches,  or  his  adventures  as 
a  stage-driver.  How  he  endured  the  heat  and  cold  and 
storms,  over  the  rough  and  ill-kept  roads,  and  how,  when 
the  roads  were  blocked  by  heavy  snow-drifts  so  that  his 
horses  could  not  travel,  he  would  fasten  on  his  snow- 
shoes,  shoulder  the  mail-bag  and  plod  with  his  load  over 
Boston  Neck.  Little  Eliza,  now  with  snowy  hair  and  dig- 
nified step,  is  the  only  one  left  to  rehearse  these  stories  of 
''Grandpa  Pease,"  who  died  in  1824.  He  was  buried 
with  jMasonic  honors  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  old 
"burying  place"  behind  the  church.  No  stone  marks 
the  spot  where  the  "  Father  of  Stages  "  rests,  and  no  in- 
scription recognizes  the  valuable  services  of  this  faithful 


THE    PEASE    TAVERN 


55 


servant  of  the  Government,  whose  labors  v^ere  per- 
formed in  the  most  perilous  and  trying  times  and  who 
had  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  commanders  of 
the  Army.  He  was  also  a  benefactor  of  the  town, 
which  owes  much  of  its  present  prosperity  to  his  untir- 
ing efforts  for  its  improvement. 

His  long  experience  as  a  stage  driver  gave  him  abund- 
ant cause  to  realize  the  bad  state  of  the  roads  and  the 
necessity  for  better  ones.  After  long  and  earnest  efforts 
he  procured  from  the  Government  the  first  charter  granted 
in  the  State  for  a  turnpike,  and  it  was  laid  out  in  1808 
from  Boston  to  Worcester  through  South  Shrewsbury, 
about  one  mile  from  the  "great  road"  and  parallel  with 
it.  H^e  lived  to  see  it  completed  and  to  see  the  benefit 
it  was  to  the  public.  It  is  said  that  travel  increased  and 
stages  and  heavy  teams  became  so  numerous  that  drivers 
of  smaller  vehicles  were  obliged  to  look  well  to  their 
safety.  The  new  turnpike  naturally  took  most  of  the 
heavy  travel,  and  taverns  were  opened  at  short  intervals 
along  the  way. 

The  Balch  Dean  Tavern  was  built  in  the  last  century 
and  still  stands  at  the  junction  of  the  Westboro  road  with 
the  turnpike.  This  house  was  used  as  a  small-pox  hospital 
in  1792,  when  this  disease  was  so  prevalent  in  town  that 
several  houses  were  used  in  that  way. 

A  mile  beyond,  toward  Worcester  was  Harrington's 
Tavern,  which  was  built  by  Captain  Thomas  Harrington 
especially  for  the  accommodation   of  the  stages.     The 


56  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

sign  bore  the  INIassachusetts  coat  of  arms,  and  was  sus- 
pended from  a  rod  attached  to  the  house.  On  the 
opposite  corner  of  the  town  road  was  the  store  where 
he  sold  groceries  to  the  people  of  South  Shrewsbury. 

The  tavern  has  been  remodelled  into  a  dwelling  and 
a  handsome  residence  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  store, 
both  being  occupied  by  great-grandsons  of  Thomas 
Harrington.  Opposite  these  houses  is  the  common 
surrounded  by  beautiful  maples,  where  stood  the  meet- 
ing-house of  the  First  Restoration  Society  of  Shrewsbury, 
which  some  years  ago  was  removed.  On  top  of  the  hill 
west  of  these  stands  the  "Old  Arcade,"  once  used  as  a 
tavern,  an  important  looking  building  with  much  history 
laid  away  within  its  walls.  Like  the  Balch  Dean  tavern 
its  front,  until  the  turnpike  was  made,  was  toward  the 
south ;  but  the  turnpike  was  made  a  strictly  straight 
road  without  regard  to  front  doors  or  anything  on  either 
side.  The  Dean  Tavern  evidently  had  no  respect  for 
the  turnpike,  for  until  this  day  it  resolutely  stands  with 
its  back  toward  it.  The  first  landlord  at  the  Arcade  was 
Daniel  Stone,  then  Nahum  Eager,  Abel  Wesson  and 
following  him  the  ^Munroes,  Isaiah  and  Reuben. 

At  Lake  Quinsigamond,  down  at  the  A^ery  water's  edge, 
was  the  last  tavern  in  Shrewsbury  ;  it  was  kept  by  Joseph 
Pratt.  Several  stages  ran  each  way  daily,  each  driver  blow- 
ing his  horn  as  he  drew  near  his  stopping-place,  where 
the  travellers  alighted  for  grog  and  gingerbread.  Until 
Ihe  railroad  usurped  the  travel  between  Boston  and  Wor- 


THE    PEASE    TAVERN  '57 

-cester  nearly  all  the  freight  between  these  two  cities 
passed  over  this  road.  The  stages,  however,  by  no 
means  deserted  the  ''great  road"  through  town,  but  Levi 
Pease's  two  a  week  multiplied  into  four  each  day,  one  of 
which  carried  the  mail. 

Until  about  1806  there  was  no  post-office  in  this  town, 
all  letters  being  left  at  Worcester  until  called  for.  The 
first  post-office  here  was  kept  by  Joseph  Stone  in  a  small 
building  which  stood  west  of  the  house  now  occupied 
by  Dr.  Brigham.  A  mile  beyond  Cushing's  Tavern,  later 
called  Haven's,  was  the  tavern  in  early  times  kept  by 
Daniel  How  and,  a  mile  further  on,  the  one  kept  by 
Jotham  How,  afterward  by  George  Slocum  and  later  the 
residence  of  Judge  Cobb. 

The  Pease  farm  has  passed  from  one  man's  ownership 
to  that  of  another  and  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  George  L. 
Davis.  In  a  shady  nook  by  the  woods  west  of  the  road 
there  is  a  sulphur  spring.  To  reach  it  you  cross  the  lot 
where  Old  Brazil,  the  Indian,  and  his  wife  Nancy  used  to 
live.  This  spring  has  been  of  some  repute  at  different 
times,  the  water  being  quite  medicinal  and  containing  a 
large  per  cent,  of  sulphur.  It  is  a  pretty  spot  to  visit  and 
a  drink  from  the  spring  refreshing  after  a  dusty  walk  on 
a  summer  day.  Old  Brazil's  true  name  was  Basil  Mann. 
He  was  once  a  pirate  on  the  high  seas  and  if  his  blood- 
curdling stories  were  true,  many  a  hapless  craft  fell  into 
his  merciless  hands.  He  enjoyed  telling  with  what  deft- 
ness he  could  in  those  times  split  a  man's  head  open, 


58 


OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 


with  his  axe,  exactly  in  the  middle;  ''one-half  would 
fall  on  to  one  shoulder  and  t'other  half  on  t'other 
shoulder,  ugh !  ugh ! "  Such  grim  and  ghastly  stories 
made  him  a  terror  to  all  the  children  in  the  neighbor- 
hood as  well  as  to  some  of  the  older  people,  and  his 
habit  of  drinkino^  added  not  a  little  to  his  native  fierce- 
ness  and  terrifying  power.  During  his  life  in  Shrewsbury 
he  practiced  none  of  his  evil  arts,  seemingly  satisfied 
with  reminiscences  of  the  past.  He  lived  in  the  small 
house  once  occupied  by  Lorey  Pease,  son  of  the  Captain, 
quietly  and  industriously  weaving  baskets  which  he  and 
his  wife  Nancy  went  about  the  country  to  sell,  enter- 
taining his  customers  with  his  charming  tales.  These 
Indians  must  have  died  about  the  year  1850. 

To  show  their  pleasure  at  the  departure  of  these 
undesirable  neighbors,  the  village  boys  procured  a  bomb- 
shell and,  placing  it  in  the  brick  oven,  blew  the  house  to 
fraements. 


THE      BALDWIN      TAVERN      AND       ITS 
VARIOUS     OWNERS. 


ON  leaving  the  Pease  Tavern  and  turning  his 
course  westward,  the  traveller  sees  before  him 
the  white  spire  of  the  old  church,  standing  out 
clear  and  distinct  against  the  horizon  ;  nearer  are  the 
roofs  of  some  of  the  village  houses  which  border  the 
hills  to  the  northward.  Nearer  yet  and  at  his  left  as 
he  descends  the  hill  the  green  meadows  extend  to  the 
distant  woodland,  and  at  his  right  they  rise  into  low 
hills.  In  all  directions  the  landscape  breaks  into  pretty 
pictures,  and  while  charmed  with  these,  his  eye  is 
attracted  to  a  ruinous  building  before  him  on  the  right 
of  the  road,  which  excites  his  curiosity,  and  specula- 
tions arise  in  his  mind  which  lead  him  into  the  yard  and 
up  to  the  very  door.  Three  noble  elms  stand  on  the 
broad  common  that  lies  between  the  building  and  the 
road,  and  a  merry  brook  courses  along  under  their 
shadows.  Before  reaching  the  door  the  outline  of  a 
cellar  wall  is  discerned,  but  the  cellar  itself  is  filled  with 
the    stones    that    once    formed    a    chimney,    and     now 


60  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

overgrown  with  a  tangle  of  woodbine,  ivy  and  black- 
berry vines.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  Nature  is  striving  to 
make  beautiful  a  most  unsightly  spot.  The  ancient 
door  stones  are  left  uncovered  by  briar  and  woodbine  as 
if  to  keep  in  remembrance  the  forms  that  once  tripped 
lightly  over  into  the  hospitable  doors  beyond.  Seeds 
from  the  elms  have  been  wafted  among  the  stones,  have 
taken  root,  and  are  becoming  stately  trees,  since  the 
house  sheltered  the  lives  of  the  last  of  the  generations 
that  dwelt  beneath  its  roof.  A  little  beyond  and  toward 
the  hills  are  the  ruins  of  an  old  barn,  whose  timbers  gave 
way  before  the  winter's  blast  some  years  ago.  The 
sheds  have  gone  in  like  manner  and  the  one  remaining 
barn  bears  sisfus  of  soon  sharinor-  their  fate. 

o  o 

The  house  that  once  stood  over  the  cellar  now  filled 
with  stones  was  the  noted  Baldwin  Tavern,  famed  far 
and  near  for  its  good  cheer  and  its  gentlemanly  land- 
lord. The  date  of  its  erection  takes  us  back  to  the  time 
when  our  orchards  and  fields  were  covered  with  thick 
forests,  and  a  company  of  stout-hearted  men  lifted  up 
their  axes  against  the  mighty  trees,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  a  town  among  the  hills  where  Edward  Rawson 
made  his  search  for  saltpetre.  Nahum  Ward  was  one  of 
this  company  of  men,  and  his  was  one  of  the  forty 
families  who  settled  here,  established  a  school,  and 
formed  a  church  in  accordance  with  the  conditions  of 
the  grant.  Nahum  Ward's  first  dwelling-house  was  near 
the  meeting-house  and  there  his  little  son  Benjamm  died 


THE    BALDWIN    TAVERN    AND    ITS    VARIOUS    OWNERS  6 1 

at  the  age  of  one  year.  This  was  the  first  death  on  the 
town  record.  Nahuni  Ward  was  a  Heutenant  in  the 
mihtia  service.  He  was  an  enterprising  man,  and,  as 
various  old  deeds  show,  a  large  land-owner,  adding  to 
his  original  grant  by  purchasing  from  time  to  time  many 
hundred  acres.  He  bought  in  1732  of  William  Pepperell 
(who  afterward  became  famous  for  leading  in  the  siege 
of  Louisburg)  and  Nathaniel  Balston  of  Boston  for  the 
sum  of  one  thousand  pounds  lawful  money,  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  acres  more  or  less,  the  land  being 
theirs  by  right  of  their  wives,  who  inherited  it  from  their 
grandfather,  the  Honorable  Samuel  Sewall.  In  1742  he 
purchased  for  two  hundred  pounds  a  part  of  Nathaniel 
Treadway's  share  of  "the  tract  of  land  called  by  the 
name  of  Haine's  Great  Farm,"  which  farm  contains 
three  thousand  and  two  hundred  acres.  He  built  a 
number  of  houses  in  different  parts  of  the  town,  but  the 
Baldwin  Tavern  place  he  must  have  owned  at  a  very 
early  period,  for  he  selected  this  spot  for  his  own  resi- 
dence, and  removed  there  from  Rocky  Plain  about  1725. 
Selecting  the  spot  upon  which  to  build,  he  drew  the 
stones  for  his  chimney  and  cellar  walls,  levelled  the 
sturdy  oaks  in  the  surrounding  forest  to  get  the  strong- 
est timbers  for  his  house,  and  dug  a  well  close  by  that 
gave  him  a  supply  of  good  spring  water  which  is  clear 
and  cold  to  this  day.  The  cellar  walls  being  laid  and 
all  things  ready,  he  looked  about  him  for  men  to  help 
raise  the  frame ;  not  finding  a  sui^cient  force  in  town  he 


62  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

mounted  his  horse  and  rode  off  to  ^larlboro,  arrayed  in 
his  Heutenant's  uniform,  to  rally  his  men  who  in  merry 
mood  set  out  for  the  house-raising  in  Shrewsbury.  The 
''scribe  and  tumble"  rule  for  building-  prevailed  in  those 
days,  by  which  each  timber  was  iitted  to  its  own  place 
and  would  fit  in  no  other,  which  explains  why  in  old 
houses  the  beams  are  often  larger  at  one  end  than  at  the 
other,  and  why  no  two  doors  or  windows  are  the  same 
size.  In  the  middle  of  the  house  was  the  large  stone 
chimney  expressive  of  durability,  which  would  outlast  a 
dozen  frames  that  might  be  successively  built  around  it. 
Great,  wide-mouthed  fireplaces  were  on  three  sides  of  it, 
with  immense  stone  mantels  resting  on  the  massive 
jambs  at  either  end.  There  were  double  outside  doors 
opening  into  the  kitchen,  through  which  a  pair  of  oxen 
drew  the  "eight  foot  logs''  for  the  fireplace.  On  the 
north  side  of  the  chimney  in  the  garret  floor  was  an 
open  space  about  four  feet  square,  enclosed  on  all  sides 
down  to  the  cellar,  with  no  aperture  save  at  the  top. 
The  exact  purpose  of  this  deep,  dark  place  is  not  known, 
but  it  was  called  "the  dungeon"  and  may  have  been 
intended  for  a  hiding-place,  as  the  times  were  perilous. 
A  little  dog  once  fell  to  the  bottom  and  was  a  prisoner 
until  a  ladder  was  let  down  and  he  rescued  from  the 
darkness,  more  frightened  than  hurt. 

The  house  was  square  in  shape  with  two  stories  and  a 
garret,  and  though  durability  was  in  those  days  the  chief 
requisite   of  a  dwelling-house,   to  this    one   was    added 


THE    BALDWIN    TAVERN    AND    ITS    VARIOUS    OWNERS  65 

some  display  of  taste  in  the  finish,  and  three  w^indows 
with  diamond  shaped  panes  and  leaden  sashes  gave  a 
little  touch  of  grandeur  to  the  style. 

Martha  the  wife  of  Lieutenant  Ward,  true  to  her  name, 
was  a  provident  house-wife,  and  had  in  abundance 
everything  necessary  to  the  comfort  of  a  well  ordered 
New  England  home  of  the  olden  time.  She  took  pleas- 
ure in  furnishing  her  new  home,  arranging  with  pride  in 
the  kitchen  dresser,  her  store  of  brass,  copper  and  pewter 
utensils,  shining  as  the  dames  of  ancient  days  knew  how 
to  make  them  shine,  displaying  her  silver  and  china  in 
the  new  buffet,  and  fitting  up  her  chambers  with  her 
luxurious  feather  beds,  her  fine  linen  and  her  lace  pillow- 
biers.  Lt.  Nahum  filled  his  bookcase  with  law  books, 
hung  his  silver-hilted  swords  over  the  fireplace  in  the 
*'best  room"  and  was  ready  for  service  either  as  magis- 
trate or  soldier.  He  was  soon  called  upon  to  execute 
the  duties  of  the  former  office  by  pleading  the  cause  of 
the  town  against  the  people  of  Maiden,  who  were  trying 
to  get  possession  of  the  now  coveted  Shrewsbury  lands, 
formerly  held  by  them  in  light  esteem.  He  was  the 
first  representative  to  the  legislature  from  this  town  and 
served  in  the  same  capacity  seven  years,  holding  also 
many  town  offices  ;  later  in  life  he  was  appointed 
Colonel  of  the  militia  and  judge  of  the  Worcester  Court. 
He  died  in  1754  and  in  his  will  mentions  his  wife  most 
affectionately,  charging  his  executors  to  provide  amply 
for  her  comfort,  giving  her  "six  bushels  of  meal  a  year, 


66  OLD    TIMES    Ix\    SHREWSBURY 

2 20  lbs.  of  meat,  two  barrels  of  cyder  and  a  sufficiency  of 
apples  for  her  own  eating"'  also  that  "they  shall  yearly 
and  every  year  provide  a  sufficiency  of  good  fire  wood, 
cut  fit  for  ye  fire  and  laid  at  her  Door,  both  summer  and 
Avinter. "  He  also  bequeathed  to  her  his  "  Riding  Chair 
and  all  the  furniture  thereunto  belonging,"  and  one  half 
of  all  his  "household  stuff  besides  the  improvement  of 
my  silver  Can  and  six  silver  spoons,"  a  goodly  sum  of 
money  and  two  good  cows.  Dr.  Crosby's  bill  for  at- 
tendance in  the  last  sickness  of  both  Xahum  and  ]\Iartha 
his  wife,  is  yet  preserved,  'Olarch  25th,  1754,  Col.  Xahum 
Ward  Dr.  To  seven  visets& Sundry  Medicines  ;^.  o  -  15-6 
To  medicine  for  Mrs.  Patty  0-6-9  J^^^^e  25th,  1755. 
The  widow  I\Irs.  Martha  Ward  Deb.  to  8  visets  Bleeding 
&  Med.  jC.  o.  -  15  -  I 

Errors  excepted 
Sami  Crosby. 

The  "r\Irs.  Patty"  in  the  bill  was  a  daughter  who  was 
an  invalid  all  her  life,  though  she  lived  to  be  seventy 
years  old.  There  is  in  the  family  a  silver  spoon  which 
belonged  to  her  and  with  which  she  used  to  stir  the  por- 
ridge in  her  silver  porringer  as  she  lay  on  her  couch  ; 
nearly  one  half  of  the  spoon  is  worn  away  with  the  con- 
stant stirring.  This  spoon  is  treasured  as  a  memorial  of 
''Aunt  Patty." 

Among  Col.  Ward's  papers  is  the  following  bill  of  sale. 

*'Be  it  known  to  all  by  these  presents,  that  I  Nathaniel 
Henchman  of  Lynn,  in  the  County  of  Essex  in  the  Prov- 


^ 


^ 


•^^ 


'>^^ 


J 

^^^ 


^:ti^^j 


THE    BALDWIN    TAVERN    AND    ITS    VARIOUS    OWNERS  6/ 

ince  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England  Clerk, 
for  and  in  Consideration  of  the  sum  of  Seventy  Eight 
Pounds  in  province  Bills  to  me  truly  paid  and  signed 
by  Nahum  Ward  of  Shrewsbury  in  the  County  of  Midd^ 
in  his  Majesties  Province  above  s^  yeoman  have  Sold 
and  Delivered  to  the  S^  Ward  My  Negro  Boy  Servant 
named  Caesar  for  &  During  the  whole  term  of  Sd  Boy's 
Natural  Life  always  hereafter  to  be  and  abide  to  the  Sole 
Use  Benefit  &  Service  of  the  S^  Ward  his  heirs  Executors 
Administrs  &  Assigns,  &  I  Do  hereby  become  obliged  to 
Defend  my  Sd  Negro  Servt  to  the  Sd  Ward  against  the 
lawful  Claims  of  any  whomsoever.  In  witness  whereof 
I  have  hereto  Sett  my  hand  and  seal  this  15th  day  of  No- 
vember Anno  Dom'   1728 

Nathaniel    Henchman. 

Signed  and  Sealed  in  ye  presence  of 

Nathel  Henchman 

Mary  Henchman                            :      Seal.      : 
Abagail  -|-  Newhalls  : : 

mark. 

The  year  after  the  death  of  Colonel  Ward  160  acres  of 
the  place,  including  the  buildings,  was  sold  for  540 
pounds  13  shillings,  to  Henry  Baldwin,  of  Pelham,  N.  H. , 
who  opened  there  a  public  house,  put  a  bar  across  a 
corner  of  the  southwest  room,  and  set  up  a  tall  sign  post 
in  the  yard,  upon  which  it  was  announced  to  the  way- 
farer that  here  was  to  be  found  refreshment  for  man  and 
beast.     Near  the   sign  stood  the  old    mile   stone,    now 


6S  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

prostrate,  proclaiming,  by  its  white  letters  upon  a  black 
surface,  that  Boston  was  thirty-six  miles  away.  Henry 
Baldwin  proved  himself  to  be  a  model  landlord  ;  hos- 
pitable, genial  and  attentive  to  the  wants  of  his  cus- 
tomers, he  soon  achieved  renown  in  his  calling.  The 
handsome  tavern,  freshened  by  a  new  coat  of  yellow 
paint,  presented  an  attractive  appearance  to  the  weary 
traveller  who  was  at  once  conducted  to  the  bar  where 
the  most  refreshing  drink  w^as  offered  him,  and  whether 
the  partaker  was  too  warm  or  too  cold  it  always  put  him 
in  proper  condition.  The  bar  had  a  handsome  railing  of 
small  rods  for  ornament,  and  an  outside  door  opened 
just  beside  it.  One  evening  old  Richard  Grimes  of  Hub- 
bardston,  who  had  not  neglected  the  bars  of  other 
taverns  on  the  way,  on  drawing  rein  at  this  hospitable 
door,  forgot  to  leave  his  horse  outside,  and  forthwith 
into  the  bar-room  came  horse  and  rider  for  a  most  un- 
needed  drink.  This  is  the  Grimes  immortalized  in  the 
familiar  song,  written  by  Albert  G.  Green,  who  lived  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  and  the  first  of  the 
present.  It  is  noticeable  that  in  this  curious  poem  the 
first  two  lines  of  each  stanza  refer  to  his  character  and 
the  last  two  to  his  apparel. 

OLD     GRIMES. 

Old  Grimes  is  dead,  that  good  old  man 
We  ne'er  shall  see  him  more  ; 

He  used  to  wear  a  long  blue  coat 
All  buttoned  down  before. 


THE    BALDWIN    TAVERN    AND    ITS    VARIOUS    OWNERS  69 

His  heart  was  open  as  the  day, 

His  feelings  all  were  true  ; 
His  hair  was  some  inclined  to  grey 

He  wore  it  in  a  queue. 

Whene'er  he  heard  the  voice  of  pain, 

His  heart  with  pity  burned  ; 
The  large  round  head  upon  his  cane 

From  ivory  was  turned. 

Kind  words  he  ever  had  for  all, 

He  knew  no  fell  design  ; 
His  eyes  were  dark  and  rather  small, 

His  nose  was  aquiline. 

He  lived  at  peace  with  all  mankind, 

In  friendship  he  was  true  ; 
His  coat  had  pocket-holes  behind, 

His  pantaloons  were  blue. 

Unharmed,  the  sin  which  earth  pollutes. 

He  passed  serenely  o'er  ; 
And  never  wore  a  pair  of  boots, 

For  thirty  years  or  more. 

But  good  Old  Grimes  is  now  at  rest, 

Nor  fears  misfortune's  frown  ; 
He  wore  a  double-breasted  vest, 

The  stripes  ran  up  and  down. 


yO  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

He  modest  merit  sought  to  find, 

And  pay  it  its  desert  ; 
He  had  no  malice  in  his  mind, 

No  ruffles  on  his  shirt. 

His  worldly  goods  he  never  threw 

In  trust  to  Fortune's  dances, 
But  lived  (as  all  his  brothers  do) 

In  easy  circumstances. 

*  His  neighbors  he  did  not  abuse, 

Was  sociable  and  gay  ; 
He  wore  large  buckles  on  his  shoes 
And  changed  them  every  day. 

His  knowledge,  hid  from  public  gaze. 

He  did  not  bring  to  view  ; 
Nor  make  a  noise  town-meeting  days, 

As  many  people  do. 

Thus  undisturbed  by  anxious  cares, 

His  peaceful  moments  ran  ; 
And  everybody  said  he  was 
A  fine  old  gentleman. 
There  were  many  "fine  old  gentlemen"  of  the  Grimes 
stamp    frequenting    that    bar-room,    and    people    of   all 
degrees    and    trades    stopped    at    the    Baldwin   Tavern. 
Tradition  whispers  that  some  time  in  the  remote  past 
a   dark   deed   was  committed    within    those    walls.      A 


THE    BALDWIN'    TAVERN    AND    ITS    VARIOUS   OWNERS  7 1 

certain  night  two  travellers  arrived  and  took  lodging  in 
the  same  room.  In  the  mornins^  one  of  them  was 
missing  and  the  other  was  found  dead.  The  blood 
stains  upon  the  bedstead  caused  it  to  be  laid  aside  in 
the  garret  where  it  remained,  filling  that  corner  of  the 
garret  with  spectres  to  those  superstitiously  inclined. 
Who  the  unfortunate  man  was,  who  was  his  evil  dis- 
posed companion,  or  to  what  place  he  fled,  are  matters 
unknown  to  history  and  unsung  by  tradition. 

The  family  parlor  was  the  southeast  room,  which  had 
no  door  but  the  one  into  the  front  entry,  and  the  other 
part  of  the  house  could  not  be  reached  except  through 
the  bar-room. 

This  was  not  always  an  agreeable  transit  for  the 
young  ladies,  who  sometimes  found  a  way  through  a 
vv^indow  and  reached  the  kitchen  by  a  run  outside  the 
house.  There  were  seven  daughters  belonging  to  this 
household;  and  seven  girls  will  make  any  house  merry; 
so  we  must  believe  that  there  Avere  few  dull  hours  in  the 
family  that  lived  in  the  Baldwin  Tavern.  Only  two  of 
these  daughters  married  Shrewsbury  men.  Mary  mar- 
ried Elisha  Ward,  the  son  of  Nahum;  they  went  to  live 
in  Petersham.  Lucretia  became  the  wife  of  Jonas  Stone, 
who  established  the  Stone  homestead  near  the  church, 
now  owned  by  Mr.  Frederick  Stone  of  Boston,  grandson 
of  Jonas  and  Lucretia,  who  has  repaired  and  enlarged  it 
for  his  summer  residence. 

Before  the  Revolutionary  \\'ar,  the  large  yard  in  front 


^2  OLD  TIMES  IX  SHREWSBURY 

of  the  Baldwin  Tavern  was  used  as  a  training  ground 
for  one  of  the  military  companies,  formed  to  accustom 
the  farmers  to  the  use  of  firearms  and  prepare  them  for 
actual  service.  Henry  Baldwin's  mother  married  a 
second  husband,  Col.  John  Jones  of  Hopkinton,  and 
after  his  death  came  to  live  with  her  son,  who  built  an 
addition  to  his  house  for  her  use  ;  this  is  "the  part  now 
standing.  It  was  a  snug  little  home  for  Lady  Jones, 
two  rooms  below  and  one  above  with  a  fireplace  in 
each  and  little  cupboards  for  her  china  and  silver. 
There  by  the  west  window  sat  the  fair  dame  of  one 
hundred  years  in  her  white  ruffled  cap  and  kerchief,  her 
spinning  wheel  in  the  corner,  and  by  her  side  a  little 
stand  containing  a  few  treasured  books.  In  1793,  en 
the  day  when  she  completed  her  century  of  life,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Sumner  took  her  to  a  sleighride,  and  though  we  do 
not  hear  that  she  had  any  robe  to  throw  about  her  save 
a  camlet  cloak,  we  do  not  hear  either  that  she  came 
near  freezing,  or  took  a  dreadful  cold,  or  any  such  thing, 
but  that  she  had  a  real  good  time  and  lived  to  take  tea 
with  ]\Irs.  Sumner  on  her  birthday  three  years  later  "in 
good  health  and  enjoying  Reason/'  as  Dr.  Sumner  wrote 
in  his  journal.  Two  years  longer  she  lived  in  her  cosy 
rooms,  reading  and  knitting  and  spinning,  the  neigh- 
bors' children  making  the  rooms  merry  with  their 
games  —  the  favorite  place  for  them  to  hide  in  playing 
"hide  and  whoop"  was  under  Grandma  Jones'  big 
apron  ;  as  this  mysterious  hiding-place  was  well  known 


THE    BALDWIN    TAVERN    AND    ITS    VARIOUS    OWNERS  75 

to  all  partakers  of  the  game,  there  was  always  a  rush 
for  it  and  a  great  rush  away  from  it,  sometimes  nearly 
dislodging  the  old  lady  from  her  chair,  who  after  all 
enjoyed  the  fun  and  laughed  with  the  children  while  she 
replaced  her  spectacles  and  rearranged  her  cap.  Lady 
Jones'  fireplaces  are  desolate  now  and  the  cranes  move 
on  rusty  hinges.  Instead  of  children's  voices,  the  winds 
howl  and  storms  drive  through  the  sashless  windows, 
and  blood-stains  are  upon  the  floor  she  once  kept  so 
white,  and  daily  sanded  with  care. 

Henry  Baldwin  died  in  Nov.,  1789,  leaving  his  son 
Henry  in  possession  of  the  place.  But  his  reign  in  the 
Tavern  was  short,  for  the  next  month  he  fell  from  the 
beams  in  the  barn,  breaking  his  neck.  The  place  then 
came  into  possession  of  Capt.  Aaron  Smith,  whose  son 
Ashbel  in  time  married  the  widow  Baldwin.  Capt.  Smith 
for  some  years  kept  up  the  tavern,  which  had  become 
famous.  People  far  and  near  had  heard  of  its  fame  and 
travellers  lengthened  or  shortened  a  day's  journey  that 
they  might  see  for  themselves  the  glories  of  the  Baldwin 
Tavern. 

Aaron  Smith  was  a  noted  man  in  these  parts  ;  he  was 
an  intrepid  soldier,  having  been  engaged  in  the  expe- 
dition against  Canada,  and  was  one  of  the  few  Shrews- 
bury men  who  fought  at  Bunker  Hill.  Having  scented 
the  battle  from  afar,  he  evaded  the  sentry  at  Charles- 
town,  and  was  firing  away  with  all  his  might  at  the 
British  from  behind  the  hay  fence,  when  a  negro  at  his 


74  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

side  became  so  crippled  by  a  ball  from  the  enemy  that 
he  could  not  rise  to  discharge  his  g"un,  but  he  could  load 
his  own  as  well  as  Smith's  while  the  latter  fired  them 
both  off  until  the  ammunition  was  expended.  Smith 
then  took  the  negro  on  his  back  to  carry  him  off  the 
field,  but  the  enemy's  balls  coming  thick  and  fast,  one 
of  them  shattering  the  gun  in  his  hand,  he  was  obliged 
to  leave  the  negro  to  his  fate,  only  saving  himself  by 
a  hasty  retreat.  He  lived  to  fight  under  Lafayette  when 
they  had  "such  a  terrible  time  in  the  Jarseys, "  and  com- 
manded a  company  of  men  m  the  time  of  the  Shays  rebel- 
lion, of  which  we  shall  hear  more  in  another  chapter. 

The  stories  which  he  related  in  his  old  age  of  his 
many  adventures  were  listened  to  with  great  interest, 
but  being  then  unwritten  are  lost  to  us  except  the  few 
fragments  which  we  have  by  tradition. 

When  Lafayette  came  to  Worcester  m  1824,  the  Shrews- 
L»ury  Rifle  Company  was  accorded  the  post  of  honor  in 
his  escort.  ]\Iany  gray-haired  soldiers  pressed  forward 
in  the  crowd  to  greet  their  old  commander,  and  among 
them  Aaron  Smith,  who  in  his  eighty-ninth  year  walked 
from  his  home  to  see  him.  Lafayette  at  once  recognized 
him  and  most  affectionately  embraced  him.  Captain 
Smith  presented  him  with  a  cane  which  he  had  carved 
from  a  grape-vine  brought  from  the  Jerseys,  which  he 
accepted  with  pleasure.  Smith  was  a  famous  carver  of 
canes  and  there  are  some  specimens  of  his  skill  yet  in 
existence.      He   was    anticipating    much    satisfaction   in 


THE    BALDWIN    TAVERN    AND    ITS    VARIOUS    OWNERS 


/D 


being  present  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  Bunker 
Hill  monument  in  1825,  but  the  old  man  died  without 
the  sight  on  the  ninth  of  the  May  previous. 

Some  years  before  his  death  he  removed  to  the  west- 
erly part  of  the  town,  having  sold  the  Baldwin  place  to 
]Mr.  Samuel  Bullard,  who  kept  the  tavern  open  a  few 
3'ears,  then  closing  his  doors  upon  the  public  sold  no 
more  comforting  drinks  from  the  bar  and  took  down  the 
sign  from  the  tall  sign-post  by  the  milestone  near  the 
road.  Then  travellers  instead  of  taking  the  well  known 
turn  into  the  yard,  gaided  their  horses  by,  looking  sadly 
at  the  old  place  and  thinking  of  the  jovial  times  in  the 
by-gone  days,  with  a  sigh  drove  on  to  Haven's,  a  mile 
beyond,  or  to  Pease's,  in  the  other  direction. 

The  house  still  wore  the  friendly  look,  but  the  sign- 
post looked  forlorn,  at  least  so  thought  the  neighboring 
boys,  who  one  night  decorated  it  to  their  satisfaction  and 
in  the  morning  when  the  owner  took  his  stroll  under  the 
elms,  he  saw  a  great  yellow  pumpkin  swinging  from 
the  hook  which  once  held  the  sign.  This  was  the  last 
day  of  the  tall  sign-post  ;  before  night  it  had  been  lev- 
elled to  the  ground,  Samuel  Bullard  wishing  to  have  no 
more  boy's  pranks  played  upon  it.  It  was  incorporated 
into  the  frame  of  the  yellow  barn  now  standing.  He 
once  told  a  neighbor  that  there  was  a  large  sum  of 
money  buried  upon  the  farm,  that  no  one  would  ever 
find  should  he  die  suddenly.  Not  long  after,  while 
■driving  in    his   wagon    around    the  corner    by    Haven's 


76  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

tavern,  his  horse  became  frightened  at  a  curtain  blowing- 
from  a  window  and,  starting  suddenly  to  run,  Mr.  Bullard 
was  thrown  out  injuring  his  neck  so  seriously  that  he- 
died  soon  after.  It  is  not  known  that  any  discovery  was 
ever  made  of  the  buried  money.  Samuel  Bullard's  son 
Jason  inherited  the  place  w^hich  had  been  the  scene  of 
so  many  and  varied  experiences,  and  at  his  death  it 
passed  into  the  possession  of  his  children,  who  are  still 
the  owners.  It  was  in  1864  that  the  house  was  torn 
down.  For  many  years  it  had  given  .unmistakable 
evidence  of  decay  ;  its  late  owners  had  not  kept  it  in 
repair  and  winds  and  storms  had  played  with  it  un- 
molested. The  timbers  were  settling  at  the  corners  of 
the  rooms  and  breaking  away  from  the  chimneys,  the 
board  partitions  were  warped,  and  the  floors  sinking  in 
the  middle,  in  some  places  broken  through  and  the 
entire  structure  going  to  ruin,  except  the  part  built  for 
Lady  Jones,  which  was  quite  secure,  and  in  it  the  Bullard 
sons  (the  only  ones  of  the  family  remaining  here)  took 
up  their  abode  before  the  demolition  of  the  ancient  part 
took  place.  This  was  a  more  formidable  task  than  had 
been  anticipated,  for  although  it  had  such  a  dilapidated 
look,  there  was  yet  great  strength  in  the  wooden  pins 
that  held  the  beams  together,  and  that  for  some  time 
refused  to  yield  to  the  united  efforts  of  several  pair  of 
oxen  to  break  them  apart,  for  Nahum  Ward  had  built  his 
house  to  last.  The  great  chimney  required  more  than 
a  steady  pull  from  the  oxen  to  lay  it  prostrate  ;   it  was 


THE    BALDWIN    TAVERN    AND    ITS    VARIOUS    OWNERS  77 

firm  as  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  until  a  battering  ram 
was  in  some  way  constructed  and  the  masonry  attacked 
with  it.  This  proved  successful,  and  the  chimney  with 
its  fireplaces  which  spoke  of  warmth  and  comfort,  soon 
became  the  pile  of  stones  which  Nature  has  so  gracefully 
concealed  with  her  vines  and  spreading  elms. 

Twelve  years  later  Lady  Jones'  kitchen  became  the 
scene  of  a  tragedy  which  is  still  remembered  with 
horror.  Ever  since  that  dreadful  night  in  October,  1876, 
when  the  whole  village  was  startled  by  the  cold-blooded 
inurder  o«f  John  Bullard,  a  peaceable,  inoffensive  man, 
the  house  has  stood  empty,  save  as  it  has  been  a  shelter 
for  squirrels,  bats  and  owls  and  for  homeless  cats — or 
for  passing  tramps  who  take  refuge  there  for  a  night. 
People  who  favor  ghost  stories  say  that  the  place  is 
haunted  ;  be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  certainly  dismal  and 
forlorn  enough  by  day,  and  in  the  moonlight  when  the 
wind  rattles  the  loose  boards,  sets  the  doors  groaning 
on  their  rusty  hinges,  howls  up  the  deserted  stairway 
and  the  cold  chimney,  it  is  uncanny — a  place  for  hags 
to  rest  awhile  from  their  broomstick  rides  and  chat  with 
the  bats  and  owls  and  cats,  while  they  search  out  the 
blood-stains  upon  the  floor  !  But  we  would  rather  leave 
the  witches  with  their  weird  companions  to  their  mid- 
night mutterings,  and  think  of  dear  old  Lady  Jones  in 
the  far-away  years  rocking  and  knitting  and  singing  her 
psalms. 


yS  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

"The  leaning  barn  about  to  fall 

Resounds  no  more  on  husking  eves  : 

No  cattle  low  in  yard  or  stall, 
No  thresher  beats  his  sheaves. 

"So  sad,  so  drear  !     It  seems  almost 
Some  haunting  presence  makes  its  sign 

That  down  yon  shadowy  lane  some  ghost 
Might  drive  his  spectral  kine  !" 


THE    LAST    OF    MRS.    JONES     CHAIRS. 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH. 


ABOUT  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  eight  young- 
men  set  out  on  horseback  from  their  native  town 
Pomfret,  Conn.,  for  Yale  College,  Oliver  Gros- 
venor,  a  young  lad  of  ten  years  and  brother  of  one, 
going  with  them  to  bring  back  the  horses.  This  novel 
procession  attracted  much  attention  as  they  passed 
through  the  village,  and  a  lady  from  Massachusetts  who 
was  visiting  in  Pomfret  asked  what  was  to  b'e  done  with 
all  those  young  men.  The  laughing  reply  was  ''We 
are  going  to  send  them  as  missionaries  into  Massachu- 
setts."  The  answer  was  prophetic,  for  six  of  the  eight 
were  afterward  settled  over  churches  in  this  state. 

The  death  of  the  Rev.  Job  Cushing  left  the  Shrews- 
bury church  without  a  minister.  To  obtain  another  was 
a  serious  matter,  and  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  was 
appointed  by  the  church,  to  the  end  that  the  Lord  would 
guide  them  in  their  choice.  The  one  whom  they  finally 
chose  was  Mr.  Joseph  Sumner,  one  of  the  eight  young 
men  from  Pomfret.      He  in  the  meantime  had  graduated 


8o  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

from  Vale  College  with  honors,  in  the  class  of  1759,  ^^^ 
taught  school  the  next  winter  in  Charlton,  Mass.,  and  in 
the  spring  had  commenced  preparing  for  the  ministry 
with  his  pastor,  Rev.  Aaron  Putnam,  in  Pomfret. 

During  the  summer  of  1781  he  preached  here  accord- 
ing to  request,  but  declined  to  remain  longer,  as  he  did 
not  desire  an  early  settlement.  In  March  the  next  year, 
the  church  again  sought  him,  and  sent  him  a  formal  call, 
which  he  accepted. 

His  long  and  successful  pastorate  shows  that  their 
choice  was  well  made.  The  salary  agreed  upon  was 
sixty-six  pounds  a  year,  six  pounds  more  than  his  prede- 
cessor, INIr.  Cushing,  received.  ]Mr.  Sumner  in  preparing 
for  his  new  work,  and  in  accordance  with  his  ideas  of 
propriety,  had  his  hair  cut  short,  and  put  on  a  wig  in 
honor  of  his  ordination,  never  appearing  in  public  after 
that  without  one. 

The  day  decided  upon  for  the  ordination  was  the 
twenty-third  of  June,  1762,  and  the  day  being  fine, 
people  from  the  surrounding  towns  came  in  large  num- 
bers to  witness  the  ceremony.  It  was  thought  unwise 
to  crowd  the  meeting-house,  which  was  small  and  too 
old  to  be  secure.  Consequently,  when  the  preparations 
for  the  occasion  were  made,  a  platform  was  erected  out- 
side, upon  which  the  services  were  conducted. 

The  council  consisted  of  nine  ministers  with  their 
delegates,  and  it  was  voted  to  observe  the  day  solemnly, 
as   a   day  of   fasting  and   prayer.      And   so    it    is  to   be 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  Si 

supposed  that   they   had  their  ordination,   and   that  the 
council  got  no  dinner  ! 

The  next  year  Mr.  Sumner  bought  for  his  residence 
the  house  and  land  owned  and  occupied  by  Artemas 
Ward,  then  Colonel  under  King  George.  When  he  had 
all  things  in  readiness,  he  went  to  Pomfret  to  marry 
Miss  Lucy  Williams,  a  worthy  young  lady  of  great 
refinement  and  intelligence,  fr(5m  an  ancient  and  noted 
family,  and  he  writes  in  his  note  book  June  8th,  "We 
came  to  live  at  our  own  house."  Mr.  Sumner  was  not 
long  in  winning  the  favor  of  his  parishioners  and  he 
was,  in  all  respects,  a  man  to  whom  they  could  look 
up.  Mentally  he  was  strong,  calm,  and  equal  to  all 
emergencies.  Physically  he  was  tall,  with  a  com- 
manding figure,  which  he  carried  with  great  dignity, 
his  height  of  six  feet  and  four  inches  making  him  a 
Saul  among  his  people. 

The  majesty  of  his  appearance,  with  his  white  wig, 
and  his  three-cornered  hat,  from  underneath  which  shone 
a  pair  of  dark,  piercing  eyes,  sent  a  feeling  of  awe 
through  the  young,  and  the  boys  never  failed  to  take  off 
their  hats  when  they  met  his  venerated  form  on  the 
street. 

A  child  seeing  him  for  the  first  time  ran  into  the  house 
and  told  his  mother  that  he  had  seen  God  !  To  his  dig- 
nity there  was  added  that  courtly  and  saintly  grace,  that 
showed  him  to  be  a  gentleman  and  a  Christian;  and 
beneath  all  was  his  large,  kind  heart  that  had  room  for 


Sz  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

all  his  people.  His  kindly  sympathy  carried  comfort  to 
the  homes  he  visited,  and  his  genial  good  nature  made 
him  everywhere  welcome.  He  was  a  busy  man  with 
his  farming,  his  visiting,  and  writing  two  sermons  a 
week,  sometimes  three,  and  on  Saturday  afternoons 
hearing  the  school  children  recite  their  catechisms. 

His  sermons  were  attractive,  not  being  so  long  as  to 
be  wearisome,  but  always  containing  that  which  was 
not  only  worth  listening  to,  but  which  was  also  well 
worth  remembering.  Though  not  gifted  with  great 
fluency  of  speech,  his  language  was  eloquent,  and  his 
words  convincing. 

Four  years  passed  away,  and  the  old  meeting-house 
was  found  to  be  far  too  small  to  accommodate  the  large 
audiences  that  flocked  .to  hear  ]\Ir.  Sumner  preach.  It 
was  the  custom  for  every  one  to  go  to  church ;  the 
town  was  growing,  the  inhabitants  were  enterprising, 
and  ambitious  to  have  their  town  as  progressive  as 
others  about  them,  and  they  voted  in  town-meeting  to 
build  a  new  and  more  commodious  meeting-house. 
Where  it  should  be  erected  was  a  serious  question  and 
caused  quite  a  dissension  between  those  who  lived  on 
Rocky  Plain  and  the  more  remote  dwellers  in  the  south. 
The  north  precinct  had  been  set  off  as  a  separate  parish 
and  called  Boylston.  Those  in  the  south  still  travelled 
four  miles  every  Sabbath  day  to  the  meeting-house 
and  having  done  this  for  twenty  years  or  more,  they 
requested   the    town    to    place    the   new  meeting-house 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  85 

nearer  to  them  and  thus  equahze  the  distance  to  it  from 
all  parts  of  the  town.  If  this  could  not  be  done  they 
wished  to  set  off  as  a  separate  parish  like  their  northern 
brethren.  Feeling  hurt  that  little  attention  was  paid  to 
their  protests  and  entreaties,  a  lengthy  petition  was  sent 
to  the  legislature,  in  which  their  woes  were  set  forth 
and  redress  prayed  for.  For  some  reason  they  with- 
drew this  petition  and  the  new  house  was  erected  on 
Rocky  Plain  very  near  the  old  one.  In  those  times 
preaching  was  supported  by  the  town,  and  consequently 
a  general  interest  was  taken  in  the  new  house  of  wor- 
ship. A  building  committee  was  chosen,  whose  pur- 
pose was  to  have  the  work  well  and  thoroughly  done, 
and  home  labor  was  to  be  preferred  to  any  other.  The 
timbers  were  all  selected  from  the  Shrewsbury  forests 
and  hewn  by  the  sturdy  owners  ;  Shrewsbury  black- 
smiths made  the  nails  and  the  architect  himself,  Mr. 
Daniel  Heminway,  was  a  Shrewsbury  man  and  a  famous 
church  builder.  All  things  being  ready,  the  town  voted 
to  raise  the  building  on  the  thirteenth  of  May,  to  provide 
a  good  supper  and  to  send  to  Boston  for  a  barrel  of  rum, 
probably  the  latter  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  workmen 
and  because  it  was  a  day  to  be  remembered  to  all  gen- 
erations. We  are  not  told  that  there  were  any  corner- 
stone ceremonies,  or  that  the  supper  provoked  any  after 
speeches.  That  was  an  entirely  practical  company  of 
men  who  wiped  the  drops  from  their  faces  that  warm 
afternoon,  and  sat  down  to  refresh  themselves  with  the 


§4  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

sumptuous  repast  which  the  willing  hands  of  the  wives 
and  sisters  had  prepared  while  the  work  was  going  on. 
The  men  were  weary;  all  day  since  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning  they  had  labored  hard  to  fit  the  mighty  timbers 
into  their  places  and  fasten  them  together  with  the 
strong  oaken  pins  that  were  to  hold  them  for  an  un- 
known number  of  years.  The  work  for  that  day  was 
finished  and  they  viewed  it  with  great  satisfaction  as 
they  were  eating  their  supper  on  the  common  in  the 
fresh  breeze  of  the  early  evening.  The  setting  sun 
threw  a  glory  over  the  newly  hewn  timbers,  on  that  day 
raised  to  a  new  honor,  as  if  the  blessing  of  Heaven  were 
descending  upon  the  labor  of  their  hands. 

The  sturdy  yeomen  may  have  felt  this,  for  they  had 
done  their  work  faithfully  and  well,  as  the  structure  itself 
testifies  that  has  stood  through  the  storms  and  tempests 
of  more  than  a  century,  that  even  the  lightning  stroke 
failed  to  destroy  and  is  in  1892  apparently  good  for  a 
hundred  years  to  come.  IMr.  Sumner  in  his  journal  says 
''July  7,  1766,  The  old  House  was  taken  down.  July 
13,  1766,  Being  Lord's  Day  we  met  ye  first  time  in  the 
new  House,  upon  wh.  occasion  I  preached  from  Genesis 
2S  chapter  &  ye  17  verse — 'This  is  none  other  but  the 
house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  Heaven.'"  The 
new  meeting-house,  forty-five  feet  wide  and  sixty  long, 
had  at  first  no  steeple  or  bell — they  waited  forty-two 
years  for  those  ;  the  ornamentation,  though  simple,  was 
artistic  both  inside  and  out,  and  all  was  painted  white. 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  85 

Although  the  color  of  the  inside  has  several  times  been 
changed,  the  white  church  remains  yet  a  landmark  to  all 
the  country  round.     The  style  of  architecture  belonging 
to  that  period  may  be  seen  in  a  few  other  buildings  in 
town,  the  Haven  Tavern  being  one.    There  were  porches 
on  the  east  and  west  ends,  and  a  larger  one  on  the  south 
side.     This  was  the  main  entrance  and  opened  on  to  the 
broad  aisle,  which   extended  back  to  the  pulpit  on  the 
north  side.      The  aisles  from  the  east  and  west  porches 
met  at  the  broad  aisle  and  there  were  lesser  aisles  lead- 
ing   from    these    to   the    different  pews.      A  gallery   ran 
around  three  sides    of  the   house,  in   the   south  part   of 
which  sat  the  choir.     It  was  in  1765,  the  last  year  of  tlie 
old  meeting-house,  that  "Jedediah  Tucker  and  Jonathan 
Wheelock  were  chosen  by  the  clrk.  to  set  the  psalm  in 
public  worship."     Stoves  were    at    that    time    unknown 
and    the    new  house  was  as  cold  as  the  old  one.      Old 
ladies    had   their   foot-stoves  which    they  carried    filled 
with   live   coals  and  replenished    at  the  minister's   fire- 
place at  noon,  while  they  sat  there  to  warm  themselves, 
eat  their  luncheon   and  talk  over  the    morning-sermon, 
speculating  meanwhile  on  what  the  subject  for  the  after- 
noon might  be.     The  pews  were  built  after  the  old  his- 
toric pattern,  square  with  high  backs  and  seats  on  three 
sides,  and  doors  that  might  be  closed  in  cold  weather  to 
prevent  a  circulation  of  air  and  the  escape  of  heat  from 
the  foot-stoves.      If  the   pews  were  crowded,  and  there 
were  boys  in  the  family,  one  of  them  must  sit  in  the 


86  OLD    TI.MES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

doorway.  The  seats  were  on  hinges,  to  allow  them  to 
be  lifted  and  give  standing  room  for  the  people  when 
they  rose  to  pray  or  sing.  The  prayer  or  singing-  being- 
over  the  seats  were  let  down  again  upon  their  braces, 
and  if  this  were  not  done  with  the  greatest  care,  a  gen- 
eral clatter  ensued,  which  was  usually  the  case.  There 
was  one  boy  (who  at  ninety  told  the  story  with  great 
zest,)  to  whose  ears  this  clatter  was  music.  He  decided 
one  day  that  the  next  Sabbath  he  would  manfully  do  his 
papt  in  this  portion  of  the  service  so  dehghtftd  to  him. 
Waiting  until  the  long  prayer  was  over,  throwing  all  his 
fervor  into  the  act,  he  brought  his  seat  down  with  a 
bang  that  sent  a  thrill  of  joy  through  his  soul.  His 
father's  hand '  on  his  shoulder  gave  him  another  thrill 
which  quickly  dissipated  the  first,  and  it  is  enough  to 
say  that  he  replaced  his  seat  more  quietly  in  the  future. 
Any  invention  for  physical  comfort  in  meeting  was 
considered  an  innovation  and  it  was  with  some  distrust 
that  the  "lolling  table''  was  received.  This  was  the 
rather  indolent  name  for  what  was  perhaps  a  necessary 
comfort  to  some  in  those  days  of  long  services,  being  a 
small  shelf  on  which  the  elderly  weary  could  rest  their 
heads  without  fearing  the  stick  of  the  tjthing  man  who  is 
supposed  to  have  been  always  on  the  alert  to  awaken 
all  the  sleeping  children  and  drive  out  all  the  little  dogs 
who  would  not  sleep.  'Sir.  Simon  ^Nlaynard  introduced 
the  first  of  these  tables  into  his  own  pew  for  his  own 
special  relief  when  the  sermon  was  too  long.      He  soon 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  Sj 

found  occasion  to  try  his  new  method  of  restful  worship, 
and  when  the  sermon  was  in  its  seventhly  he  quietly 
bowed  his  head.  No  .sooner  did  the  board  feel  the 
pressure,  than  the  supporting  hook  gave  way  and  down 
went  the  table  ;  down,  too,  went  his  head,  to  his  extreme 
mortification  —  reminding  one  of  the  miserere  of  the 
monks  which  fell  the  moment  one  leaned  heavily  upon 
it,  thus  revealing  his  weakness  and  wickedness  in  be- 
coming weary  with  standing  through  the  long  service. 
But  the  people  of  Shrewsbury  church  were  not  like  the 
monks  of  old  and  the  sinfulness  of  ease  being  less 
apparent  to  them  than  formerly,  Mr.  Maynard's  unfor- 
tunate ^mishap  did  not  deter  others  from  providing  them- 
selves with  these  comforting  and  convenient  rests, 
making  sure,  however,  that  the  hooks  were  securely 
fastened.  In  some  of  the  primitive  churches  the  pews 
were  made  each  by  a  different  individual.  When  a  man 
desired  a  pew  he  made  his  own  and  though  conforming 
to  the  general  pattern  he  exercised  his  taste  or  consulted 
his  convenience  in  the  kind  of  wood  used  and  the  quality 
of  the  finish.  The  work  all  being  done  by  hand  the 
result  was  that  some  of  them  were  well  made ;  in  others 
the  corner  posts  were  unlike  in  height  and  size,  and  all 
roughly  hewn.  This  may  have  been  the  case  with  the 
first  meeting-house  in  Shrewsbury,  but  the  one  which 
we  are  describing  was  proper  in  all  its  appointments 
and  the  work  skilfully  done. 

Mr.  Sumner's  fame  was  not  long  in  reaching  beyond 


00  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

his  own  town.  His  opinions  began  to  be  held  in  great 
regard  among  the  ministers  in  the  region,  and  were 
sought  on  all  occasions  when  weighty  matters  were 
under  consideration.  And  so  in  time,  no  ministers 
meeting  or  council  was  thought  to  be  complete  with- 
out his  presence,  and  his  superior  judgment. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War  he  was  a  firm  patriot 
in  the  struggle  for  liberty,  and  his  influence  was  always 
on  the  side  of  the  Colonists ;  his  sympathy  and  thoughts 
were  with  those  who  had  gone  out  from  among  his  own 
people  into  the  perils  and  hardships  of  war.  His  letter 
to  the  Shrewsbury  soldiers  in  the  Army  under  Washing- 
ton, after  the  defeat  on  Long  Island,  while  they  were 
camped  in  New  York,  reveals  the  tender  solicitude 
which  he  felt  for  those  absent  members  of  his  flock, 
and  after  peace  was  declared  no  one  rejoiced  more  than 
he  over  the  return  of  the  soldiers. 

Notwithstanding  the  meagreness  of  his  salary,  this 
*' farmer  minister""  and  his  estimable  helpmeet  man- 
aged by  diligent  industry  and  strict  economy  to  bring 
up  and  educate  eight  children,  and  in  1797  he  built  for 
himself  a  new  house,  quite  near  to  the  old  one,  which 
he  left  for  his  son  Joseph  at  the  time  of  his  marriage. 
This  was  removed  about  fifty  years  ago  to  the  spot 
where  it  now  stands,  east  of  the  house  formed  by  the 
largest   portion  of  the  Haven  Tavern. 

It  was  in  1783  that  "the  church  voted  to  have  the 
psalm  read  line  by  line  at  the   communion   table.'"     In 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  8g 

1790  "the  church  chose  Mr.  John  Stow,  and  Mr.  Vashni 
Heminway  to  assist  in  leading  the  singers  in  perform- 
ing that  part  of  divine  service  in  the  congregation. "  In 
February,  1791,  "voted  to  begin  to  sing  Dr.  Watt's  ver- 
sion of  the  Psahiis  with  his  Hymns,  the  first  Sabbath  in 
March  next,  provided  there  be  no  objections  lodged  with 
the  pastor,  from  the  congregation  before  that  time,"  and 
"some  conversation  had  about  the  expediency  of  having 
a  bass  viol  in  the  congregation."  In  1798  "Captain 
Knowlton,  who  had  served  for  many  years  as  chorister, 
desired  that  some  others  might  be  chosen  to  lead  in  the 
singing. "  The  church  considered  his  request  and  invi- 
ted the  congregation,  and  the  singers  in  particular  "to 
join  in  the  choice  of  some  suitable  persons  to  lead  in  the 
singing."  The  persons  chosen  were  Dr.  Paul  Dean,  Mr. 
Shepherd  Pratt  and  Mr.  Ebenezer  Drury. 

Those  were  Shrewsbury's  palmy  days,  when  in  the 
majesty  of  his  full  white  wig  and  muslin  bands  Mr. 
.Sumner  looked  down  upon  his  audience  from  the  great 
white  pulpit,  which  was  roomy  enough  for  half  the  min- 
isters in  the  county.  It  was  reached  by  a  flight  of  stairs 
from  the  aisle  below  and  entered  by  a  door  which  the 
minister  could  close  and  fasten.  A  soundino^  board  hune 
over  him  as  he  preached,  to  send  his  solemn  words  to 
every  ear,  and  above  all,  the  representation  of  a  flame 
of  fire,  typified  the  aspirations  of  the  soul  and  the  ascent 
of  the  prayers  to  Heaven.  Such  an  audience  has  never 
l)een  gathered  in  Shrewsbury  since  those  days.      Every 


go 


OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 


family  in  town  was  represented.  There  were  men  whose 
titles  gave  evidence  of  the  worth  they  had  been  to  their 
country,  and,  magnificent  in  their  queues  and  powdered 
hair,  their  lace  ruffles,  velvet  breeches  and  silver  shoe 
buckles,  they  bore  themselves  with  great  dignity,  waiting 
upon  the  quaintly  dressed  ladies  in  high-heeled  slippers 


DR.     SUMXER. 

and  huge  poke  bonnets,  showing  them  into  the  different 
pews,  some  turning  one  way  and  some  another  through 
the  various  aisles,  in  the  most  delightful,  orderly  confusion. 
Before  the  minister  and  almost  beneath  his  eyes  was 
the  deacon's  seat  and   the   pew  for  the   elderly   and  the 


DR.     SUMNER    AND    THE     CHURCH  9 1 

deaf.  At  the  right  sat  Dr.  Edward  FHnt,  the  army 
surg-eon.  Nearer  yet  was  the  Sumner  family  pew, 
where  the  beneficent  madam  sat  with  kindly  grace 
among  her  children,  and  where  after  the  service  was 
over,  the  minister  joined  them  and  together  they  walked 
down  the  broad  aisle,  the  congregation  respectfully 
standing  until  they  had  passed  out.  At  the  left  of  the 
pulpit  was  Luther  Goddard  the  watchmaker,  who  after 
a  time,  left  the  preaching  of  Dr.  Sumner,  became  a 
Baptist  and  turned  preacher  himself  General  Ward  and 
his  wife  came  in  at  the 'south  porch,  taking  their  seats 
on  the  west  of  the  broad  aisle.  Captain  Nathan  Howe 
had  a  conspicuous  seat  in  front,  near  the  pulpit.  He 
was  an  officer  at  Lake  George  in  the  French  War,  and 
also  commanded  a  company  at  Dorchester  when  the 
earthworks  were  thrown  up  in  the  night  which  sent  the 
British  out  of  Boston. 

Daniel  Heminway,  the  meeting-house  builder,  sat  in 
the  southwest  corner  and  with  him  his  son  Vashni,  the 
town  clerk,  and  this  is  where  he  stood  to  read  the  mar- 
riage bans. 

Deacon  Benjamin  Goddard's  pew  was  at  the  left  of 
the  pulpit  near  the  northeast  corner  of  the  house.  It 
was  on  a  Sunday  afternoon,  February  twenty-fourth, 
1799,  while  he  was  listening  to  one  of  Mr.  Sumner's 
soul-stirring  sermons  that  two  of  his  children  left  at 
home  took  a  lighted  candle  and  went  into  the  cellar  to 
get  some  apples  to  eat.     There  was  straw  in  the  cellar, 


92  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

and  Artemas,  a  little  fellow  not  yet  four  years  old, 
thought  it  would  burn  and  make  a  pretty  sight  ;  one 
touch  of  the  candle  and  all  was. in  a  blaze,  the  frightened 
children  ran  out  and  were  saved,  but  the  house  and 
most  of  its  contents  were  burned  when  Deacon  Goddard 
reached  the  spot  after  the  service  was  over.  Deacon 
Goddard  was  the  great-grandfather  of  the  present  Henry 
L.  Goddard.  In  one  of  the  pews  sat  Dr.  Crosby,  one  of 
Shrewsbury's  first  physicians,  and  a  distinguished  army 
surgeon.  In  the  great  middle  pew  on  the  west  side  was 
Captain  Levi  Pease,  the  veteran  stage  driver  and  his 
wife,  dignified  as  a  duchess. 

jMrs.  Sally  Henshaw  came  in  taking  her  seat  on  the  east 
side,  every  one  turning  to  see  her  handsome  face  and 
fine  gown  made  in  Boston.  Sheriff  Ward  and  his  wife 
sat  on  the  south  side  ;  she  is  said  to  have  been  the 
handsomest  girl  that  went  a  shopping  in  Worcester,  and 
he  the  strono^est  man  in  all  the  re2:ion.  A  union  of 
manly  strength  and  womanly  beauty  rarely  seen. 

Near  the  eastern  entrance  was  Henry  Baldwin,  the 
keeper  of  Baldwin  Tavern,  with  his  wife  and  aged 
mother,  ]Mrs.  ]Mary  Jones,  who  was  bright  and  brisk  as 
a  girl,  and  there  listening  to  the  sermon  every  Sunday, 
though  near  her  one  hundredth  birthday.  In  the  next 
pews  were  Col.  Seth  Wyman  and  Deacon  Wheelock. 
j\Ir.  Sam  Haven,  the  tavern  keeper,  sat  next  to  the  door 
on  the  south  side  of  the  aisle.  On  the  west  side  was 
Mrs.  Rebecca  Symmes,  lovely  with  her  white  hair  and 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  C$ 

English  ways.  Her  husband,  who  was  an  officer  in  the 
Revokition,  died  during  that  period,  and  she  boarded 
with  Mr.  Joseph  Nourse.  On  New  Year's  day,  1790,  she 
was  pubhshed  for  marriage  to  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Morse 
of  the  North  Precinct  (now  Boylston)  but  as  she  was  a 
widow  of  an  American  soldier,  and  he  a  rank  tory,  ob- 
jections were  made  to  the  marriage  by  her  friends,  and 
she  always  after  remained  the  ''Widow  Symmes." 

In  Dr.  Sumner's  latter  days  his  son  Joseph  and  his 
family  occupied  a  pew  near  the  south  door.  One  Sunday 
a  current  of  air  passing  through  the  church  was  keenly 
felt  by  the  aged  minister,  and  no  one,  not  even  the 
tithing-man,  seemed  to  notice  his  discomfort.  After 
waiting  in  vain  for  some  time,  hoping  for  relief  and  get- 
ting none,  he  called  out  in  a  decided  tone  to  one  of 
Joseph's  sons— "James,  shut  that  door."  The  youthful 
and  obedient  James,  with  those  keen  eyes  upon  him, 
loitered  not  though  the  eyes  of  half  the  congregation 
were  upon  him  also. 

The  following  account  is  taken  from  an  old  journal 
written  in  18 15.  ''Sunday  August  12th.  This  day  in 
the  afternoon  a  young  turkey  was  driven  into  the  church, 
and  it  by  degrees  flew  on  to  the  Pulpit  beside  Dr.  Sum- 
ner while  he  was  at  prayer,  and  without  any  noise  stood 
upon  the  Bible  with  as  little  concern  as  it  would  have 
done  on  the  ground.  Thus  it  stood  while  he  baptised 
Mr.  Gill's  child  by  the  name  of  Henry  Baldwin.  When 
we  sat  down  to  smg  the  last  tune  it  left  the  Pulpit  and 


94 


OLD    THIES    IX    SHREWSBURY 


went  on  to  the  Beam  over  Dea.  Goddard's  pew,  all 
this,  except  when  he  first  came  m  the  house,  and  until 
we  were  dismissed,  was  without  one  peep  or  noise 
from  the  turkey." 

From  ]Mr.  Sumner's  Journal — "April  1792.  According 
to  a  Vote  of  the  town  of  Shrewsbury,  the  three  hinder 
seats  in  the  meeting  house  were  taken  up  &  six  pews 
built  which  sold  for  about  140  pounds,  beside  the  Gift 
building,  which  is  to  remain  as  a  fund  the  Interest  of 
which  is  to  be  appropriated  for  the  support  of  the 
Gospel." 

It  was  during  Dr.  Sumner's  pastorate  that  the  dark 
clouds  of  doctrinal  controversy  arose  in  New  England. 
But  he  vv^as  at  all  times  for  peace,  and  never  engaged  in 
strife,  so  through  the  storm  he  stood  quietly  firm,  preach- 
ing the  peace  of  the  Gospel.  His  life  among  the  Shrews- 
bury people  appears  to  have  been  blameless,  though  he 
had  a  humble  opinion  of  his  own  merits.  When  eighty- 
two  years  old  he  writes,  "I  wish  to  cultivate  a  sub- 
missive spirit."  The  whole  of  his  journal  shows  not 
only  a  submissive  spirit,  but  sensitive  nature  and  a  for- 
giving disposition.  When  the  town,  feeling  its  own 
poverty,  refused  to  make  any  consideration  on  account 
of  the  depreciation  in  the  value  of  continental  money, 
which  reduced  his  salary  one-half,  he  says  pathetically 
"What  is  providentially  taken  from  me  I  can  possibly 
submit  to,  but  what  is  unjustly  detained  by  those  I  have 
exerted  myself  to  serve,  wounds  one. "' 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  95 

To  obtain  a  clear  idea  of  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of 
his  character  one  should  read  his  published  Memoir  and 
Journal.  In  the  latter  his  affectionate  nature  shines  out 
when  he  speaks  of  his  anxious,  sleepless  nights,  when 
any  trouble  touched  his  children  or  when  anything  came 
between  him  and  his  ''  dear  people." 

Forty-seven  years  after  his  marriage  death  took  his 
beloved  wife,  his  "amiable  consort"  of  whom  he  writes, 
"Her  domestic  virtues  were  equalled  by  few,  excelled 
by  none  ;  her  piety  was  exemplary."  It  is  probable  that 
in  the  history  of  the  town  no  man's  influence  has  been 
.so  healthful,  so  widespread  and  so  enduring  as  that  of 
Dr.  Sumner.  For  sixty-two  years  he  held  the  foremost 
place  among  this  people,  and  those  years  included  the 
most  eventful  time  in  the  Nation's  history. 

It  was  late  in  life  that  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
was  conferred  upon  him.  This  was  done  in  1814  by 
Yale  College  and  also  about  the  same  time  by  Columbia 
CoUesre,  S.  C.  At  that  time  there  was  but  one  other 
minister  in  the  vicinity  who  had  received  the  like  dis- 
tinction ;  this  was  the  Rev.  Aaron  Bancroft  of  Wor- 
cester. 

Dr.  Bancroft  and  Dr.  Sumner  were  warm  friends  and 
they  made  a  solemn  compact,  that  the  one  who  sur- 
vived should  preach  the  funeral  sermon  of  the  other. 
This  sad  duty  fell  to  Dr.  Bancroft  who  in  his  eulogy 
said — "During  all  the  trials  and  conflicts  of  a  long  Hfe, 
he  was  distinguished  for  cheerfulness  and    other  social 


g6  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

qualities,  but  these  were  chastened  by  a  quick  sense  of 
propriety.  He  could  blend  the  agreeableness  and  affa- 
bility of  the  companion,  with  the  seriousness  of  the 
minister,  the  purity  of  the  Christian,  and  the  respecta- 
bility of  the  man.  Not  easily  provoked  he  knew  what 
was  due  to  his  character,  and  he  secured  respect  from 
all."  At  his  death  there  was  great  mourning,  for  a  great 
man  had  gone,  a  pure  and  blameless  life  had  passed 
from  earth.  The  pastor  that  the  people  had  asked  God 
to  choose  for  them  had  been  to  them  all  that  they  could 
desire.  When  we  consider  his  life,  grand  in  its  gentle- 
ness and  godliness,  we  cannot  wonder  that  the  influence 
of  that  life  moulded  the  characters  of  the  children  who 
grew  up  under  his  teachings  and  that  it  left  its  royal 
stamp  upon  them. 

Dr.  Sumner  left  his  farm  to  his  son  Erastus,  who  died 
in  1858,  and  was  the  father  of  ]Mr.  George  Sumner  of 
Worcester,  the  present  owner,  who  has  fitted  up  the 
house  in  the  style  of  his  grandfather's  time  and  occupies 
it  as  his  summer  residence.  The  place  where  the  old 
house  stood  is  now  a  smooth,  beautiful  lawn,  and  one 
looks  out  of  the  same  narrow  windows  now,  that  the 
Doctor  looked  from  in  his  last  days,  and  sees  his  great- 
grandchildren playing  tennis  under  the  shade  of  the 
elms  where  he  used  to  walk  and  meditate,  and  perhaps 
decide  upon  the  subjects  for  the  next  Sunday's  dis- 
courses. 

The  following  description  is  taken  from  the  Memoir  of 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  97 

Dr.  Sumner  published  by  his  grandson  Mr.  George  Sum- 
ner. "The  house  in  which  Dr.  Sumner  passed  his 
decHning  years,  and  where  he  breathed  his  last,  is  pre- 
served substantially  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  built 
ninety  years  ago,  presenting  a  correct  type  of  a  well-to- 
do  New  England  Home  of  the  last  century.  In  the 
interior,  the  original  pieces  of  furniture  occupy  the  same 
places  and  all  the  details  of  household  arrangement  are 
maintained  as  far  as  is  practicable,  as  they  were  in  the 
time  of  the  first  occupant.  The  family  living  room  con- 
tains the  'turn-up'  bed  where  Dr.  Sumner  took  final 
leave  of  his  family  and  sorrowing  friends ;  the  desk 
where  his  sermons  were  composed,  surmounted  by  a 
small  bookcase,  supposed  to  be  sufficient  for  his  entire 
library,  from  which  '  he  drew  his  inspiration  ;'  and 
the  original  sofa,  chairs  and  other  furniture  returned  to 
their  places,  some  of  them  after  an  absence  of  many 
years  of  duty  among  the  different  descendants  in  distant 
parts.  The  tall  eight-day  clock  still  ticks  the  time  cor- 
rectly. The  portraits  on  the  walls  and  other  relics  have 
each  their  appropriate  place. 

"The  veritable  'best  room,'  with  the  regulation  ap- 
pointments and  oaken  floor ;  and  the  kitchen,  well  fur- 
nished with  articles  now  curious  but  once  useful,  all  in 
their  proper  places  may  here  be  seen.  In  the  chambers 
are  curtanied  beds,  and  high  cases  of  drawers,  and  in 
the  'ideal'  garret  are  the  various  wheels,  large  and 
small,     high    and    low,    with    hand    reels,    clock    reels,. 


98  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

hatchels,  cards  and  divers  articles  considered  indispen- 
sable to  a  well  regulated  minister's  family  of  the  period. 
Everything  from  cellar  to  roof  in  the  old  mansion  re- 
mains solid  and  substantial,  and  if  no  calamity  befalls 
them,   are  equal  to  another  hundred  years  of  service. " 

In  Dr.  Sumner's  old  age  the  duties  attendant  upon  a 
large  parish  became  so  arduous  that  he  requested  the 
church  to  provide  an  assistant.  The  first  man  chosen  to 
this  office  was  the  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Ingersoll,  who 
preached  one  Sabbath,  was  taken  sick  and  never 
preached  again,  dying  in  about  four  weeks.  In  Sept., 
182 1,  the  Rev.  Edwards  Whipple  was  ordained;  he 
preached  one  year  with  the  exception  of  one  Sabbath, 
and  died  very  suddenly.  And  so  until  1823  Dr.  Sumner 
had  little  relief  from  his  labors.  At  that  time  Rev.  George 
Allen,  an  able  man  and  thorough  scholar,  was  settled  as 
colleague.  The  next  year  the  death  of  Dr.  Sumner  oc- 
curred and  Mr.  Allen  was  left  in  possession  of  the  pulpit. 

There  were  some  customs  in  the  early  days  which 
were  tolerated  as  things  are  apt  to  be  in  new  com- 
munities, and  the  people  becoming  habituated  to  them 
think  them  not  strange.  Some  of  these  struck  Mr.  Allen 
as  being  out  of  character  with  the  time  and  place  of 
their  enactment,  and  he  sought  to  institute  a  few  reforms. 
It  had  been  the  practice  at  funerals  to  have  toddy  for 
the  bearers,  and  while  the  mourners  were  being  com- 
forted in  the  parlor,  the  toddy  was  being  made  in  the 
Mtchen,  the  toddy  stick  being  sometimes  heard  in  the 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH 


99 


parlor.  Mr.  Allen  being-  annoyed  by  such  a  singular 
disturbance,  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  the  practice, 
whereupon  at  the  next  funeral  when  the  toddy  sticks 
began  to  twirl,  Mr.  Allen  ^-topped  the  service  and  sud- 
denly making  his  appearance  in  the  kitchen,  ordered  the 
proceedings  to  come  to  an  end,  and  never  to  be  renewed 
on  such  an  occasion.  It  is  said  to  be  a  fact,  the  toddy 
thus  dismissed  appeared  no  more  at  Shrewsbury 
funerals. 

Fearless  in  his  reformatory  efforts  he  then  attacked 
another  annoyance,  and  again  success  followed  his 
efforts.  This  time  it  was  to  get  rid  of  the  church-going 
dogs,  who  did  not  always  exhibit  that  reverence  for  the 
place  which  was  becoming.  Mr.  Allen  and  the  tithing- 
man,  Mr.  Maynard,  being  of  the  same  mind,  agreed 
that  a  certain  quarrelsome  dog  should  be  present  but 
once  more,  and  Mr.  Maynard  was  to  be  ready  with  his 
stick  on  the  next  Sunday  morning.  Mr.  Ben  Stone  was 
deaf  and  sat  in  the  pew  for  the  deaf  near  the  pulpit.  On 
the  Sunday  of  which  we  are  telling  he  was  sitting  with 
his  head  resting  on  his  hand,  oblivious  to  all  things  but 
the  sermon,  when  the  tithing-man  with  quick  step  and 
raised  stick  came  swiftly  on  after  the  unhappy  little  dog 
that  had  just  been  discovered  in  some  roguishness  for 
which  his  fate  was  sealed ;  and  instinct  told  him  so,  as 
he  fled  down  the  aisles,  up  the  aisles  and  through  the 
cross  aisles  before  the  dreadful,  uplifted  stick.  Balch 
Dean,  the  dog's  master,  seeing  the  trouble  of  his  pet  and 


lOO  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

teing  anxious  for  his  safety,  opened  the  door  of  his 
pew  ;  the  dog  understood,  but  dared  not  linger  to  make 
the  turn.  Round  and  round  he  ran  again  and  the 
tithing-man  was  upon  him  as  he  passed  old  Mr.  Stone, 
the  raised  stick  came  down  with  tremendous  force  not 
on  the  offending,  hunted  little  dog,  but  upon  the  arm  of 
the  poor  deaf  man  who  had  not  noticed  the  disturbance, 
and  received  the  blow  with  some  surprise.  Down  the 
aisle  leaped  the  dog  toward  the  open  door,  and  after 
him  rushed  the  tithing-man  whose  next  blow  sent  him 
yelping  out  the  door.  That  dog's  master  left  him  in  the 
protection  of  home  ever  after  on  Sundays,  and  other 
dogs'  masters  followed  his  example.  By  such  object 
lessons  did  Parson  Allen  seek  to  tone  down  the  rough 
ways  which  had  descended  from  pioneer  times. 

In  1807  the  west  porch  was  taken  away  and  the 
steeple  built.  The  bell  was  brought  to  town  September 
26,  of  that  year,  and  raised  to  position  the  same  day. 
Whether  the  jubilant  ringing  in  celebration  of  the  event 
injured  the  bell  the  records  do  not  say,  but  May  17,  the 
next  year,  it  was  returned  to  Brookfield  to  be  recast, 
brought  back  the  2Sth  of  INIay  and  elevated  to  its  place 
of  honor  again.  The  west  porch  was  purchased  by  Ly- 
man Howe  and  attached  to  his  dwelling-house,  which  is 
now  owned  by  Mr.  George  Buck.  The  porch  is  in  good 
repair  and  the  arched  ceiling  as  imposing  as  when  Ly- 
man Howe  in  his  boyhood  passed  through  and  sat  in  the 
square  pew  just  inside  the  door,  with  his  father  Gideon. 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH 


lOI 


Inexorable  Fashion  holds  sway  in  the  small  corners  of 
Ihe  world  as  well  as  in  the  large  centres,  and  the  people 
on  Shrewsbury  hill  were  not  exempt  from  her  despotism. 
The  old  people  who  in  their  youth  had  built  the  meeting-- 
house,  and  looked  with  harmless  pride  upon  it,  were 
all  gone  ;  and  the  old  minister  who  had  dedicated  it  to 


THE    SUUTH     PORCH. 

the  worship  of  God,  had  gone  also.  The  new  genera- 
tion was  longing  for  something  different  if  not  better, 
and  so  in  1834  they  pulled  out  the  square  pews  and  the 
white  pulpit  with  the  sounding-board,  and  turned  the 
building  about,  making  the  steeple  face  the  south,  as  it 


I02  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

now  does.  The  eastern  porch  was  moved  to  South 
Shrewsbury  by  IMr.  Levi  Newton  and  made  a  part  of  his 
dwelling  house,  which  was  burned  a  few  years  ago. 
The  large  south  porch  was  bought  by  Mr.  Charles  E. 
Miles  for  twelve  dollars  and  a  half  and  taken  to  his  farm 
(now  owned  by  Mr.  Silas  Howe)  to  be  used  as  a  work- 
shop. He  afterwards  sold  it  to  Mr.  Daniel  Noyes,  who 
attached  it  to  his  house  on  the  Goulding  Hill  road, 
where  it  now  stands,  somewhat  changed  both  by  time 
and  the  carpenter. 

The  meeting-house  was  raised  and  the  vestry  built 
underneath  at  this  time.  In  place  of  the  square  pews 
and  the  interesting,  intersecting  six  or  more  aisles,  they 
made  two  long  straight  aisles  and  four  rows  of  long 
straight  pews  with  the  owner's  name  on  each.  The 
names  were  in  gilt  letters  upon  a  black  plate  and  each 
pew  was  numbered  in  the  same  way  ;  consequently  no 
one  could  mistake  his  seat  and  "get  into  the  wrong 
pew,"  but  could  sit  down,  turn  the  brass  button  of  the 
little  door,  and  feel  that  he  and  his  family  were  shut  out 
from  the  world  and  for  an  hour  or  two  free  from  all 
intrusion.  The  handsome  mahogany  pulpit  with  its 
crimson  plush  cushion  and  silk  draperies  was  designed 
by  Rev.  George  Allen  and  was  the  object  of  great 
interest  to  the  adjoining  towns  who  sent  their  delegates 
to  see  it.  Being  made  in  Framingham  and  brought 
home  late  on  Saturday  night,  it  was  put  in  place  on 
Sabbath  morning,  the  day  when  the  first  service  was  to 


MR.   Allen's  pulpit 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  IO3 


be  held  after  the  remodelling  of  the  meeting-house. 
Mr.  Allen  hearing  of  it  refused  to  hold  service  there 
because  the  labor  had  been  performed  on  the  Lord's  day 
and  the  people  repaired  to  "the  hall"  as  usual. 

In  the  "Religious  INIagazine  "  of  that  time  there  is  a 
long  description  of  it  by  the  Rev.  Jacob  Abbott,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  extract:  "It  is  a  beautiful 
pier  table,  placed  upon  a  platform  a  little  elevated 
.above  the  congregation,  and  more  perfectly  corresponds 
with  our  idea  of  what  a  pulpit  should  be  than  anything 
else  we  have  ever  seen.  There  is  an  air  of  ease  and 
elegance  about  it  which  we  have  never  before  seen  in 
the  most  costly  specimens  of  pulpit  architecture."  And 
the  writer  goes  on  to  say  that  "the  society  in  Shrews- 
l3ury  must  be  of  more  than  ordinary  intelligence,  to 
adopt  a  pulpit  of  such  grace  and  beauty." 

Mr.  Allen  closed  his  labors  here  in  1840  and  removed 
to  Worcester,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
Much  of  interest  might  be  written  of  the  words  and 
works  of  the  worthy  successors  of  Dr.  Sumner  in  the 
church  here,  some  of  whom  are  going  on  with  their 
labors  in  other  places,   "and  some  are  fallen  asleep." 

When  the  church  was  raised,  in  1834,  the  vestry  built 
below  was  furnished  partly  with  what  was  cast  off  from 
the  old  church.  The  pillars  that  supported  the  gallery 
were  put  in  the  vestry  to  support  the  floor  above  and 
the  white  pulpit  was  put  there  for  a  time  and  then 
consigned  to  oblivion.      To  this   room   the  thoughts  of 


I04  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

Shrewsbury's  absent  ones  must  often  turn,  for  it  was 
here  that  the  people  met  for  instruction,  for  business 
and  for  pleasure.  From  this  place  the  prayers  of  the 
church  have  gone  up  ;  here  the  Sunday  School  has  been 
taught  almost  since  its  commencement. 

Until  the  town  hall  was  built,  in  1872,  the  town  meet- 
ings were  held  here,  and  bakers  sold  buns  and  ginger- 
bread to  the  hungry  voters.  Such  fairs  were  never  held 
in  town  as  we  have  known  in  that  vestry  ;  and  long  ago 
the  Lyceum  meetings  were  held  here,  and  deep  and 
important  questions  considered  settled  by  Shrewsbury's 
youthful  brains.  One  needs  but  to  mention  singing 
schools,  spelling  schools  and  choir  rehearsals,  to  bring 
up  a  troop  of  pleasant  memories  to  many  minds.  This, 
too,  was  the  place  for  lectures  and  some  eminent  men 
have  made  the  walls  resound  with  their  eloquence. 

It  was  in  this  vestry  that  John  B.  Gough  gave  his  first 
temperance  lecture  and  the  people  turned  out  in  large 
numbers  to  hear  him.  It  was  then  and  there  that  he 
first  saw  the  young  lady  who  afterward  became  his 
wife.  Years  after,  when  he  had  become  the  most  noted 
temperance  lecturer  in  the  world,  he  told  this  story  to 
an  audience  gathered  in  the  same  room,  this  time  at  a 
banquet  given  in  his  honor  when  he  had  delivered  a 
lecture  for  the  benefit  of  the  Public  Library. 

Another  renowned  man  also  honored  this  room  with 
his  first  speech.  In  1850  Mr.  George  F.  Hoar,  then  a 
young  man   just   entering  public  life,    was  requested  to 


,*i'  "-^L-wlssfiia^a. 


DR.  SUMNER  AND  THE  CHURCH  IO7 

address  the  Shrewsbury  people  upon  the  "Fugitive 
Slave  Law,"  the  great  topic  that  was  then  being  agi- 
tated. He  came  and  made  his  first  pohtical  speech, 
and  he  says  that  when  he  had  finished,  Mr.  Ward  told 
him  that  he  "  handled  that  subject  very  well."  No  one 
can  doubt  the  truth  of  that  remark,  for  it  is  an  undis- 
puted fact  that  the  Honorable  George  F.  Hoar  handles 
all  subjects  well. 

Of  the  recent  alterations  and  renovations  in  the  old 
church  some  other  pen  must  tell.  Could  the  men  who 
raised  the  frame  in  1766  stand  within  it  in  1892,  they 
would  look  with  some  surprise  upon  the  neatly  frescoed 
walls  and  the  organ  sounding  out  the  tunes  they  used 
to  hold  in  too  great  reverence  to  be  touched  by  any 
mere  machine.  More  astonished  still  would  they  be  to 
feel  the  heat  coming  up  through  holes  in  the  floor  upon 
a  cold  winter  day.  Yet  not  more  strange  would  it  seem 
to  them  than  it  would  to  the  Shrewsbury  people  of 
to-day,  could  they  be  carried  back  a  century  or  more 
and  see  the  quaint  picture  of  Doctor  Sumner  m  his  long, 
black  gown  and  full,  white  wig,  preaching  in  the  great, 
white    pulpit    with    the    sounding-board    overhead. 


OTHER    PEOPLE   AND   INCIDENTS. 


THE  town  was  all  astir  one  morning  in  April,  1786, 
when  the  news  flew  abroad  that  a  burglary  had 
been  committed  in  the  night  in  three  different 
houses.  The  penalty  for  this  crime  was  death  by  hang- 
ing ;  and  a  deed  so  bold  as  this,  done  in  the  usually 
quiet  village,  caused  no  little  excitement.  The  burglar, 
who  proved  to  be  a  negro  by  the  name  of  Johnson 
'Green,  was  arrested  the  next  day  after  a  search  in  the 
surrounding  woods  by  several  parties  of  men,  and  was 
brousfht  before  General  Ward  to  whom  he  confessed  his 
•crime  and  he  was  committed  to  the  Worcester  "Gaol." 
The  spoils  he  obtained  that  night  are  thus  recorded  — 
"  He  stole  from  I\Ir.  Baldwin  i  pair  of  shoes  one  pair  of 
silver  Buckles  i  furstin  jaccot  two  all  wool  Do.  one  shirt 
cotton  and  linnen,  one  Bottle  of  New  England  rum,  two 
Cakes  of  Gingerbread,  21  coat  and  jaccot  Buttons  and 
four  or  five  shillings  in  cash — from  Mr.  Farrar  one  pair 
of  boots  one  pair  of  Shoes,  i  pair  of  Shoe  Buckles  silver 
one  pair  of  Sizars  20  or  30  Coppers  a  remnant  of  black 
Sattin  lasting  one  liiinen  pocket  handkerchief — from  IMr. 


OTHER    PEOPLE    AND    INCIDENTS  IO9 

Wyman  about  fifteen  or  Sixteen  Shillings  in  Cash  part 
Silver  &  part  Copper.  He  confessed  he  broak  up  and 
Stole  all  the  above  articles  except  the  bottle  of  Ginn — 
The  three  above  houses  he  broak  up  in  one  night." 

Strong  and  Lincoln  acted  as  his  counsel  at  the  trial  in 
Worcester,  April  i8,  1786,  Benjamin  Hey  wood  of  Shrews- 
bury being  one  of  the  jury.  At  the  trial  he  gave  an 
account  of  his  wicked  deeds ;  he  was  then  twenty-nine 
years  of  age  but  began  to  steal  when  only  twelve  years 
old,  his  first  theft  being  four  cakes  of  gingerbread  and 
six  biscuits.  Not  being  discovered  in  this,  he  was  en- 
couraged to  go  on  until  at  last  he  met  his  doom.  His 
confession  was  as  follows  : 

"  I  Johnson  Green  having  brought  myself  to  a  shame- 
ful and  ignominious  death  by  my  wicked  conduct,  and 
as  I  am  a  dying  man  I  leave  to  the  world  the  following 
history  of  my  birth,  education  and  various  practices, 
hoping  that  all  people  will  take  warning  by  my  evil 
example  and  shun  vice  and  follow  virtue."  Then  fol- 
lows a  minute  account  of  his  career  ending  with  the 
Shrewsbury  burglary,  and  said  that  he  also  "stole  one 
pair  of  thread  stockings  at  Lyons  just  beyond  said 
Wymans  and  then  hid  myself  in  the  woods  where  I  lay 
till  the  next  day,  and  at  evening  set  off  toward  Boston, 
was  arrested  by  a  guard  placed  by  a  bridge  in  the  edge 
of  Westboro. " 

He  was  sentenced  to  be  executed  the  next  June,  but 
breaking  Gaol  he  escaped  and  followeti  for  a  short  time 


no  OLD    TI3IES    IN    SHXF.WSJ^rKY 

his  favorite  pastime,  of  house-breaking-,  when  he  was 
again  arrested  and  again  escaped,  practiced  still  further 
his  unlawful  pursuits,  and  was  again  arrested  on  the 
very  day  originally  set  for  his  execution.  On  the  17th 
of  August,  1786,  he  was  hung  in  Worcester  for  the 
''atrocious  crime  of  burglary." 

Captain  Nathan  Howe  used  to  relate  a  stor}"  which  is 
supposed  to  refer  to  this  same  Green.  When  the  Cap- 
tain was  at  West  Point  there  was  a  negro  there  who 
was  sentenced  by  a  court-martial  to  be  whipped  for 
stealing  officers'  rations.  When  the  punishment  was 
about  to  be  inflicted,  the  officer  having  charge  of  it  told 
the  negro,  after  he  had  been  tied  up  by  his  thumbs  to  a 
post,  that  if  he  would  ask  pardon  of  the  gentlemen  offi- 
cers present  they  would  forgive  him,  and  the  punish- 
ment might  be  remitted.  The  culprit  peeked  out  under 
his  arms  to  the  right  and  left  and  said  "  I  don't  see  any 
o-entlemen  officers  here,"  and  in  truth  there  were  na 
officers  present  except  the  Captain  of  the  provost  guard 
who  from  the  very  nature  of  his  duties  was  not  a  favorite 
with  the  soldiers,  certainly  not  with  such  of  them  as  he 
most  had  to  do  with.  "Then,"  said  the  Captain  to  the 
man  who  was  to  do  the  whipping,  "lay  on  to  the 
rascal,"  and  the  poor  fellow  got  a  much  severer  punish- 
ment than  he  would  but  for  his  witty  reply  to  the  offer 
of  pardon.  As  Green  himself  told  in  the  story  of  his 
life  of  having  been  in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  at 
West  Point,  he  is  undoubtedly  the  one  who  was  whipped. 


OTHER    PEOPLE    AND    INCIDENTS  I  I  I 

When  Ross  Wyman  came  here  in  1749,  he  purchased 
of  Abram  Eager  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
with  the  buildings  thereon.  The  farm  contains  a  pretty. 
sheet  of  water  where  he  built  a  dam  and  a  mill.  Being 
a  gun  maker  and  a  blacksmith  by  trade  he  built  his 
shops  near  the  mill  and  practiced  his  various  callings  as 
occasion  required.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  road 
from  these  buildings  and  the  old  house,  he  erected  a 
new  house  which  still  stands,  occupied  by  his  descend- 
ants, and  is  in  excellent  repair,  being  no  mean  represen- 
tation of  the  architecture  of  those  times.  It  seems  to 
have  been  more  carefully  put  together,  more  pains  taken 
to  have  the  beams  that  show  in  the  rooms,  nicely  fin- 
ished and  laid  straight  and  even  at  both  ends,  than 
the  "scribe  and  tumble  rule"  usually  demanded.  This 
house,  though  not  called  a  tavern,  had  its  bar-room  and 
was  kept  open  to  the  public. 

Ross  Wyman  was  a  zealous  patriot  and  in  league 
w4th  every  scheme  that  was  for  the  good  of  the  col- 
onists. At  a  convention  of  blacksmiths  held  in  Wor- 
cester September  21st,  1774,  he  was  chosen  chairman. 
They  resolved  that  they  would  not  do  any  blacksmith 
work  for  the  Tories  nor  for  any  one  in  their  employ,  nor 
for  any  one  who  had  not  signed  the  non-consumptive 
agreement,  and  requested  all  denominations  of  artificers 
to  call  meetings  of  their  craftsmen  and  adopt  like 
measures.  "The  recommendations  and  resolves  of  this 
and  other  like  conventions,  were  received  as  laws  duly 


112  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

enacted  and  were  enforced  with  a  promptitude  and  zeal 
that  nothing  could  withstand.""  The  non-consumptive 
agreement  referred  to  was  a  resolution  adopted  by  the 
ist  Provincial  Congress  assembled  in  Cambridge  on 
October  21st,  1774,  and  was  recommending  *'the  total 
disuse  of  India  teas  in  this  Province,  and  to  the  several 
towns  to  choose  Committees  to  post  in  some  public  place 
the  names  of  all  such  in  their  respective  towns  who  shall 
sell  or  consume  so  extravagant  and  unnecessary  an 
article  of  luxury."  We  are  told  that  it  was  in  Ross 
AVyman's  bar-room  that  some  of  the  young  men  gathered 
one  night  and  burned  all  the  tea  they  could  collect  in 
town,  to  show  how  they  felt  about  the  tea  tax. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Gen. 
Ward  requested  this  patriotic  blacksmith  to  make  a  gun 
for  him  of  sufficient  strength  to  pitch  an  Englishman 
over  his  head.  He  made  it  to  order  and  of  horse  nail 
stubs,  a  real  kings-arm  and  an  excellent  weapon.  It 
disappeared  many  years  ago  and  its  whereabouts  is  now 
imknown.  Ross  Wyman  had  a  clear  head  and  a  strong 
arm,  and  a  story  is  told  of  him  in  this  wise  : 

Being  at  one  time  in  Boston  and  ready  to  start  for 
home  with  a  load  of  provisions,  he  came  near  being 
seized  and  carried  off  by  a  press  gang  from  a  British 
man-of-war.  Resolutelv  defendincr  himself,  he  at  leno-th 
snatched  up  a  cod-fish,  and,  with  both  hands  in  the  gills, 
he  beat  them  off  by  slapping  their  faces  with  its  slimy 
tail.      Being  more  than  a  match  for  them  with  his  cod- 


OTHER    PEOPLI':    AND    INCIDENTS  II3 

fish  he  tried  the  same  weapon  at  another  time.  He  was 
ag-ain  returning  from  Boston  and  on  Saturday  stopped  at 
Wayland  to  spend  the  night  and  the  Sabbath.  It  was 
winter  time,  and  he  was  with  his  sleigh ;  the  weather 
grew  warm  in  the  night  and  the  early  morning  showed 
that  the  sleighing  would  not  last  until  Monday.  Fearing 
delay  would  be  dangerous  he  started  at  daylight  and 
drove  on  without  interruption  until  he  came  to  Sudbury, 
when  in  passing  the  house  of  a  magistrate,  he,  in  the 
dignity  of  his  office  came  out  with  two  other  men  to 
stop  him  according  to  the  law  and  custom  of  the  times 
that  no  one  should  travel  on  the  Lord's  day.  Then  the 
cod-fish  came  into  use  again,  and  again  was  victorious 
and  Ross  reached  home  triumphant !  His  patriotic  and 
daring  spirit  was  doubtless  inherited  from  his  father, 
Seth  Wyman  of  Woburn,  who  distinguished  himself  in 
the  famous  "  Lovewell's  fight."  This  event  took  a 
greater  hold  on  the  feelings  of  the  people  than  any  con- 
flict with  the  Indians  since  King  Philip's  war,  and  fur- 
nished a  theme  for  fireside  tales  and  heroic  songs,  until 
the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  and  the  war  that  followed  gave 
rise  to  stories  that  eclipsed  those  of  Capt.  Lovewell  and 
his  men  fighting  against  the  dusky  Paugus  and  his 
savage  warriors. 

Ross  Wyman  lived  to  be  quite  an  old  man.  In  Dr. 
Flint's  journal  we  find  this  entry.  "Nov.  3d,  1807.  Mr. 
Ross  Wyman  visited  our  belfry,  heard  the  bell  ring, 
went  to  the  long  pond,  viewed  the   bridge  and  the  new 


114  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

road,  and  was  highly  gratified.  In  his  91st  year,  at- 
tended by  eight  men." 

"July  13,   1808,  ]\Ir.  Wyman  buried.'"' 

''Dec.  8,  1808,  Mrs.  Wyman  buried." 

On  this  same  farm  and  a  few  rods  up  the  hill  by  the 
roadside,  half  a  mile  from  the  Northboro  line,  is  a  spot 
where  a  few  years  ago  stood  a  small  one-story  house 
which  was  also  of  Revolutionary  date,  and  has  been 
known  as  the  "  old  Alexander  house."  James  Alexander 
was  a  Scotchman,  and  a  deserter  from  Burgoyne's  army 
when  the  army  marched  through  this  town  in  1786  on 
its  way  to  Boston.  He  strolled  away  from  his  company 
and  found  his  way  into  Dr.  Sumner's  barn,  where  he 
slept  on  the  hay-mow  and  was  discovered  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  in  the  morning,  who  took  him  into  the  house,  gave 
him  a  breakfast,  and  admiring  his  intelligence  and 
evident  desire  for  other  employment  than  that  of  march- 
ing with  a  defeated  army,  gave  him  an  opportunity  of 
working  at  his  trade  and  making  shoes  for  his  family, 
offering  the  amount  of  his  salary  in  paper  money,  if  he 
would  keep  them  well  shod. 

Later  he  moved  into  the  small  house  where  his  family 
grew  up  and  there  he  made  shoes  for  the  neighborhood, 
doing  the  nicest  work.  He  proved  to  be  a  good  citizen 
and  lived  until  1841  in  the  house  on  the  Wyman  farm, 
making  all  kinds  of  foot  covering  from  the  heaviest  boot 
to  the  lightest  dancing  slippers. 

A   brief  account  of  the  Lovewell  fight  may  be   of  in- 


OTHER  PEOPLE  AND  INCIDENTS  II5 

terest  here  as  the  event  is  so  intimately  connected  with 
a  Shrewsbury  family  and  with  the  early  history  of  the 
country. 

In  the  Autumn  of  1724  the  inhabitants  of  the  frontier 
towns  on  the  Merrimac  river,  being-  dissatisfied  with  the 
manner  of  carrying  on  the  War  with  the  Indians,  wished 
to  adopt  offensive  measures.  Accordingly  a  company  of 
Sj  soldiers  was  organized,  of  which  John  Lovewell  was 
Captain.  A  petition  was  sent  to  the  Legislature  in  which 
they  say — "That  if  said  company  may  be  allowed  five 
shillings  per  day  in  case  they  kill  any  enemy  Indians, 
and  possesse  their  Scalp  they  will  employ  in  Indian 
Hunting  one  whole  year,  and  if  they  do  not  within  that 
time  kill  any,  they  are  content  to  be  allowed  nothing  for 
their  wages,  time  and  trouble."  This  petition  was 
granted,  changing  the  bounty  into  £100  for  every  scalp 
taken  during  one  year,  "Capt.  Lovewell  was  a  brave 
and  adventurous  officer,  and  stimulated  by  this  offer,  he 
immediately  took  the  field  and  led  his  company  on 
towards  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Pequaketts,  who 
resided  within  the  territory  now  forming  the  towns  of 
Frydburg,  Maine,  and  Conway,  N.  H." 

On  the  29th  of  January,  1724,  they  mustered  and 
started  on  their  expedition  from  Dunstable,  travelling 
a  few  miles  each  day  and  camping  where  night 
found  them,  sendino;-  out  scouts  and  sometimes  seeing^ 
and  killing  an  Indian.  Through  the  cold  months  and  in 
the  snow  they  marched,  until  the  men  became  footsore, 


Il6  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

and  coming  in  the  latter  part  of  Fel)ruary  to  Newington, 
Maine,  they  went  on  board  a  sloop  bound  for  Boston, 
where  they  arrived  INIarch  loth.  About  the  middle  of 
April  they  started  out  again,  this  time  with  only  46  men 
and  marched  to  Saweco  river,  then  to  Pigwacket,  where 
they  found  Paugus  and  his  men  and  had  the  famous 
battle.  It  was  on  the  8th  of  ^lay,  and  the  killing  of  an 
Indian  early  in  the  day  brought  out  numbers  from 
Ambush  and  10  o'clock  the  attack  was  made.  At  the 
first  volley  Capt.  Lovewell  and  Ensign  Robbins  were 
mortally  wounded,  but  supporting  themselves  by  trees 
they  fired  upon  the  enemy  until  their  strength  failed  and 
"Capt.  Lovewell's  gun  was  cocked  and  presented  when 
he  was  past  speaking."'  With  the  fall  of  the  brave  Cap- 
tain, Ensign  Wyman  took  command  and  "through  the 
rest  of  that  eventful  day,  by  his  prudent  management 
and  courageous  example  he  was  doubtless  under  God 
instrumental  in  preserving  so  many  from  being  cut  off, 
the  enemy  being  more  than  double  their  number." 
"Seeing  them  become  dispirited,  he  animated  them  to 
action,  assuring  them  that  the  day  would  be  theirs  if 
their  spirits  did  not  flag,  which  so  encouraged  them  that 
several  discharged  their  muskets  between  twenty  and 
thirty  times  apiece.''  Thirty-three  men  entered  the 
engagement  in  the  morning  and  at  night  twenty-one 
were  left. 

For    his    valor     Ensign    Wyman    was    commissioned 
Captain  by  Lt.  Gov.  Dumner  and  was  presented   with   a 


OTHER    PEOPLE    AND    INCIDENTS  I  I  7 

silver  hilted  sword  as  an  assurance  of  the  public  ap- 
probation. He  soon  started  out  again  with  a  company 
under  his  command,  but  the  heat  of  summer  carried 
sickness  into  his  camp  which  resulted  in  the  death  of 
many,  among-  them  brave  Captain  Wyman  himself. 
He  died  on  the  fifth  of  September,  1725,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-nine. 

Shrewsbury  never  suffered  from  Indian  invasion  and 
depredation  like  the  earlier  and  frontier  towns  and  con- 
sequently has  no  tales  of  Indian  warfare  connected  with 
its  history  and  no  romantic  legendary  lore,  but  among 
the  families  whose  ancestors  struggled  with  the  foe  and 
lost  their  lives  in  the  defence  of  their  liberties  we  find 
the  name  of  Hapgood,  originally  Habgood.  The  earliest 
Habgood  in  this  country  came  from  England  in  1656, 
arriving  in  Boston  in  July  of  that  year.  This  Shadrach 
Habgood  married  in  Sudbury,  1664,  Elizabeth  Tread- 
way,  daughter  of  the  landowner  Nathaniel  Treadway, 
whose  name  was  attached  to  the  Shrewsbury  grants 
long  before  the  land  received  its  present  name.  He  was 
living  in  Sudbury  when  the  war  with  King  Philip  came 
on  and  was  one  of  the  company  of  twenty  mounted  men 
sent  by  the  government  to  treat  with  the  Indians 
and  prevent  the  war  if  possible.  They  proceeded  to 
visit  Brookfield,  here  fell  into  an  ambush  and  were  sud- 
denly surrounded  by  two  or  three  hundred  Indians  who 
killed  eight  of  their  number  and  mortally  wounded  three 
others.     Among  the  murdered  was  Shadrach  Hapgood. 


Il8  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

This  was  in  1675.  Captain  Thomas  Hapgood,  who  was 
son  of  Shadrach,  Nov.  12,  1703,  petitioned  the  General 
Court  for  an  allowance,  alleging  that  "he  having  in  1690 
been  detached  into  the  service  against  the  Indian  enemy, 
was  engaged  in  the  bloody  fight  near  Oyster  River, 
X.  H.,  wherein  Capt.  Noah  Wiswell  and  divers  others 
were  slain  and  wounded  :  that  he  there  had  his  left  arm 
broken  and  his  right  hand  much  shot  so  that  he  endured 
great  pain  and  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life  ;  that  he 
was  thereby  very  much  disabled  for  labour  and  getting 
his  livelihood  :  forced  to  sell  what  stock  he  had  acquired 
before  being  wounded,  to  maintain  himself  since,  and 
that  in  the  fight  he  was  necessitated  to  leave  and  lose 
his  arms  with  which  he  was  well  furnished  at  his  own 
charge.  The  Court  granted  him  £5."  He  and  his 
brother  Nathaniel  began  life  with  considerable  means, 
and  became  owners  of  large  tracts  of  land,  in  INIarl- 
bro ;  and  eighty  acres  of  the  land  granted  to  Isaac 
Johnson,  lying  within  the  present  limits  of  Shrews- 
bury ;  were  purchased  by  Thomas,  who  bequeathed  the 
same  to  his  son  Captain  Thomas,  who  settled  thereon  in 
1725;  he  became  a  leading  man  here  and  served  as 
selectman  seven  years.  He  married  Damaris  Hutchins, 
and  from  them  descended  all  of  the  name  in  Shrews- 
bury. 

Daniel  Heminway  was  a  famous  church  builder  ;  he 
framed  the  Shrewsbury  meeting-house,  the  old  South  in 
Worcester  and   the    one  in   Northboro    where  the   Rev. 


OTHER    PEOPLE    AND    INCIDENTS  I  1  9 

Peter  Whitney  long  officiated,  besides  many  other  pub- 
lic buildings.  "  He  was  a  warm  patriot  in  the  time  of 
the  Revolution,  one  of  the  strong  men  of  the  town," 
and  a  member  of  the  third  Provincial  Congress,  where 
he  did  important  work  on  various  committees,  one  of 
which  was  to  purchase  arms  for  the  use  of  the  army, 
for  which  service  he  received  £4  8s.  Another  was  to 
"procure  stores  for  depositing  fish  for  the  use  of  the 
Colony."  He  was  also  a  delegate  from  this  town  to  the 
Convention  that  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. He  came  here  from  Framingham  and  died 
in  1794  aged  75. 

Vashni  Heminway  son  of  Daniel,  was  a  joiner  by 
trade.  He  was  a  representative  to  the  General  Court 
several  years  and  for  twenty-two  years  held  the  o^ce 
of  town  clerk. 

One  of  the  duties  of  the  town  clerk  was  to  publish 
the  marriage  bans.  This  was  required  by  law,  that  any 
person  might  object  if  he  knew  just  cause  why  the 
marriage  should  not  be.  There  were  two  ways  of  pub- 
lishing the  bans,  those  concerned  choosing  the  one 
which  they  preferred.  A  written  notice  of  the  matrimo- 
nial intention  was  posted  in  some  public  place,  or  they 
must  be  "cried  off"  in  church;  the  latter  was  con- 
sidered in  best  style.  The  Sabbath  service  being  over,  as 
the  congregation  was  dispersing,  the  town  clerk  called 
the  attention  of  the  people  by  his  loud  "  Oyez  !  Oyez  ! 
Oyez  !"  and  read  the  notice.    This  was  done  three  Sundays 


I20  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

in  succession,  and  if  there  were  no  objections  offered, 
there  was  a  wedding  soon.  If  the  more  quiet  way  was 
preferred,  the  notice  was  posted  beside  the  church  door 
in  a  conspicuous  place  where  it  would  not  fail  to  be 
observed  by  all  who  entered.  As  it  was  a  matter  of 
some  curiosity  to  know  who  was  to  be  married  in  the 
village,  few  passed  in  without  reading.  Three  weeks 
was  the  allotted  time  for  this  also.  One  spirited  Shrews- 
bury girl  who  was  published  to  marry  a  townsman, 
heard  just  in  time  that  the  family  of  her  intended  did 
not  desire  her  as  an  addition  to  their  circle.  The  next 
Sunday  when  she  entered  the  south  porch,  she  quickly 
stepped  aside  to  the  place  where  the  notice  was  posted, 
tore  it  down  and  crumpling  it  in  her  hands  threw  it  on 
the  floor,  crushing  it  still  more  with  the  high  heel  of  her 
shoe,  and  then  with  sparkling  eyes  and  a  toss  of  her 
head  went  on  and  took  her  seat.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  the  wedding  did  not  take  place.  When  Vashni 
Heminway  was  to  be  married  he  outwitted  all  the  gos- 
sips. He  posted  his  own  intentions  at  the  proper  time 
and  usual  place  in  the  south  porch,  covering  it  with  a 
notice  to  those  who  had  dogs  to  take  care  of  them  dur- 
ing the  church  service  and  not  let  them  get  troublesome. 
His  bans  were  published  in  this  way  for  three  weeks 
and  no  one  was  the  wiser  but  himself  and  a  certain  girl 
who  was  spinning  for  Mrs.  Sumner.  When  the  three 
weeks  were  over  Vashni  walked  into  Dr.  Sumner's 
house  one  day,  in  his  working  clothes,  not  even  remov- 


OTHER    PEOPLE    AND    INCIDENTS  121 

ing  his  leather  apron,  and  told  the  Rev.  Doctor  that  he 
had  come  to  be  married  to  the  girl  spinning  in  his 
kitchen.  wShe  was  called  in  and  the  ceremony  per- 
formed forthwith — after  a  satisfactory  explanation  had 
been  made. 

The  following  was  copied  from  a  genuine  marriage 
notice  that  was  posted  more  than  a  century  ago,  the 
torn  ends  of  the  paper  showing  where  the  nails  held  it  : 

Marriage  is  intended  between  Timothy  Keyes  of  Rut- 
land &  Prudence  Wilder  of  Shrewsbury. 

Shrewsbury  /  Artemas  Ward, 

Jany'  ye   17   1755    ^  Town  Clerk. 

One  of  Shrewsbury's  noted  men  was  Capt.  Luther 
Goddard,  who  was  born  in  1762.  In  middle  life  he 
withdrew  from  the  church  and  faith  of  his  forefathers 
and  joined  the  Baptists,  becoming  a  preacher  and  itiner- 
ant minister. 

The  way  he  became  famous  was  by  making  watches, 
and  it  is  said  that  he  made  the  first  watch  that  was  ever 
made  in  America.  He  had  his  shop  here,  and  besides 
cleaning  and  repairing  the  watches  of  the  Shrewsl)ury 
people  he  also  took  care  that  those  in  the  surrounding 
towns  were  kept  in  good  order.  Every  other  Sunday 
he  preached  in  Lancaster,  and  the  service  being  over 
he  would  collect  all  the  disordered  watches,  take  them 
home  and  return  them  in  perfect  order  the  next  preach- 
ing day.  Thus  did  he  combine  his  different  callings  and 
made   his   various  talents  of  service    on    all  occasions. 


122  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

He  was  instrumental  in  forming  a  Baptist  Society  in 
Shrewsbury,  and  by  his  enterprise  a  meeting-house  was 
built  and  services  sustained  through  his  lifetime.  The 
meeting-house  was  afterward  transformed  into  a  dwell- 
ing-house by  ]\Ir,  Lyman  Howe  and  is  now  occupied  by 
I\Ir.  George  Dow.  It  is  on  the  Worcester  road  about 
half  a  mile  west  of  the  post-office,  and  has  been  re- 
modelled and  changed  in  appearance  within  a  few 
years. 

One  of  the  eminent  physicians  here  was  Dr.  Seth 
Knowlton,  who  was  born  in  1 781  and  was  grandson  of 
Deacon  Ezekiel.  Harlow's  History  says,  "He  was  a 
man  of  strong  intellect  and  great  influence  in  the  town, 
and  he  was  noted  as  much  for  his  positive  opinions  and 
his  ability  to  maintain  them  against  all  opposers,  as  he 
was  for  his  skill  as  a  surgeon  and  physician."  There 
are  some  elderly  persons  now,  who  are  not  likely  to 
ever  forget  the  jolly  Doctor  who  sweetened  his  medicine 
with  merry  stories  and  jokes,  though  the  jokes  Avere 
not  always  agreeable  to  the  suffering  patient.  He  was 
not  very  tall,  but  so  fleshy  as  not  to  wish  to  mount  a 
horse  and  always  carried  his  saddle-bags  in  his  sulky. 

The  children  knew  by  woeful  experience  that  those 
saddle-bags  contained  mixtures  of  inconceivable  bitter- 
ness, and  to  the  pains  of  sickness  was  added  the  horrible 
thought  of  the  nauseous  doses  they  must  swallow  when 
the  Doctor  came.  One  lady  recalls  her  pleasure  at  the 
Doctor's  visits,  when  he  always  took  from  his  pocket  a 


OTHER    PEOPLE    AND    INCIDENTS  1 23 

great  copper  cent  to  compensate  her  for  the  bitter  spoon- 
ful which  came  after  it  and  which  she  must  take.  His 
doses  of  dissolved  fishworms,  dried  and  powdered 
frogs,  hog  lice  steeped  in  brandy  and  other  delectable 
compounds  seem  to  have  had  not  a  bad  effect  upon 
those  who  lived  to  grow  up  under  his  treatment,  their 
vigorous  constitutions  holding  out  to  a  good  old  age. 
He  was  foremost  m  forming  the  Restoration  Society 
here  and  gathered  the  children  for  the  first  Sabbath 
School    in    Dr.   Sumner's    church    about    1810. 

Abel  Goulding  came  into  town  about  1790  with  his 
family,  and  lived  on  what  is  now  called  the  Dickenson 
place,  near  the  meeting  of  the  Worcester  and  Holden 
roads,  in  the  old  blockhouse,  built  in  the  earliest  times 
as  a  stronghold  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of 
the  town  might  flee,  in  case  of  any  Indian  invasion. 
When  the  danger  from  Indians  was  over  it  was  occupied 
as  a  dwelling-house,  and  was  not  taken  away  until  about 
twenty-five  years  ago. 

Abel  Goulding  acquired  his  fame  by  inventing  a  loom 
for  making  chaise  lace,  the  trimming  used  in  the  linings 
of  chaises  and  carriages.  He  made  a  loom  and  manu- 
factured the  lace  at  his  home.  His  father  lived  on 
Goulding  Hill  and  with  him  lived  his  daughter  Milly, 
who  was  a  bright  girl  and  taught  school  in  Worcester. 
The  death  of  her  lover  broke  her  heart  and  turned  her 
brain,  and  she  became  a  wanderer  about  town,  mildly 
insane  and  always  pleasant  and  gentle.     Tradition  says 


124  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

that  she  had  but  to  wish  for  a  thing,  when  it  came  to 
her  in  one  way  or  another.  One  would  conclude  that 
she  wished  for  little,  her  possessions  were  so  scanty. 
She  was  once  in  want  of  some  candles,  but  it  seems  she 
had  no  tallow.  She  strolled  off  through  the  fields,  and 
in  her  walk  came  across  a  dead  cow.  Not  being  fas- 
tidious she  went  home  for  a  knife  and  with  it  she  cut  out 
all  the  tallow  from  the  carcass  and  then  made  her 
candles,  thanking  the  Lord  for  thus  generously  provid- 
ing for  her  wants.  So  she  went  through  life  never  suf- 
fering from  want,  but  always  having  her  necessities  sup- 
plied like  the  ravens ;  and  Milly  Goulding's  wishes 
became  a  proverb  among  those  who  kncAV  her. 

While  Parson  Gushing  was  yet  living,  and  Nathaniel 
Whittemore  was  tanning  calf- skins  for  schoolboys' 
aprons,  before  Old  Tombolin  had  worn  out  his  sheep- 
skin breeches,  little  Mary  Garfield  was  growing  up.  And 
when  the  military  companies  were  forming  and  Ross 
Wyman  was  making  his  patriotic  horseshoes,  when 
"Old  Grimes''  was  visiting  the  Baldwin  Tavern  and  Dr. 
Sumner  was  preaching  in  the  new  meeting-house,  she 
was  lively  Molly  Garfield.  By  the  time  that  Luther 
Goddard  preached  the  Gospel  and  cleaned  the  people's 
watches,  while  Milly  Goulding  was  patiently  awaiting 
the  fulfillment  of  her  modest  wishes  and  Dr.  Knowlton 
began  to  dispense  his  herbs  and  fishworms,  she  was. 
called  Old  Moll  Garfield  the  Witch.  Not  that  she  was 
ever   fliought    to    be    a    disagreeable,    mischief- making; 


OTHER    PEOPLE    AND    INCIDENTS  12  5" 

witch,  but  one  whose  character  would  bear  inspection 
even  in  those  days  when  suspicion  had  not  yet  died  out. 
She  fared  better  than  her  predecessors  of  a  century  before, 
for  no  one  meddled  with  her  liberty  and  she  was  allowed 
to  sit  quietly  in  her  hut  and  distil  her  rose  water  and 
cider  brandy — harmless  decoctions  for  a  witch  to  bring 
out  of  her  cauldron.  Some  say  that  her  little  habitation 
was  on  the  spot  where  Mr.  Cook's  carnations  bloom  so 
marvelously  now.  Others  say  that  it  was  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  present  Garfield  residence,  which  is  a  more  mar- 
velous place  still  than  Mr.  Cook's  greenhouses.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  she  did  good  work  in  spinning  for  the 
neighbors  ;  but  the  boys  were  shy  of  her,  and  being 
determined  to  settle  the  question  once  for  all  whether 
she  was  a  true  witch,  hung  a  horseshoe  over  the  door  of 
the  room  where  she  sat  spinning  one  day.  This  story 
does  not  say  whether  they  saw  her  come  out,  or  Avhether 
she  quietly  slid  up  the  chimney,  but  she  was  ever  after 
called  a  witch.  The  legend  says  that  on  very  dark 
nights  she  would  mount  her  broom-stick  and  sail  off 
nito  the  clouds  much  higher  than  the  church  steeple, 
coming  down  again  as  gently  as  a  thistle  down.  Such 
frolics  as  these  indulged  in  at  her  extreme  age  look  a 
little  as  though  she  was  at  least  an  unusual  person,  but 
many  strange  things  happened  long  ago  that  we  cannot 
account  for. 

There  were  some  other  curious  people  in  town  then, 
and  later.      One   of   these  was   Jo  Aldrich,   who    was    a 


126  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

servant  in  the  INIiles  family  and  always,  when  not  at 
work,  dressed  in  a  white  suit.  He  was  not  careful  to 
keep  the  family  secrets  and  caused  some  funny  expe- 
riences. Ezra  Howard  and  his  dog  will  still  be  remem- 
bered by  some ;  Ezra  was  a  servant  at  the  Baldwins. 

The  story  of  the  coming  of  the  first  Plympton  to 
Shrewsbury  is  thus  told  by  a  granddaughter,  INIrs. 
Streeter,  and  is  taken  from  the  records  of  the  Plympton 
family  : 

"  ]\Iy  Grandfather,  Elzaphon  Plympton,  was  a  shoe- 
maker and  also  a  farmer.  About  1792  he  went  to 
Shrewsbury  and  bought  a  tract  of  land  entirely  covered 
with  wood.  He  first  cleared  away  the  wood  from  a  spot 
large  enough  for  a  house,  then  dug  a  cellar,  put  up  the 
frame  and  covered  it.  I  have  heard  my  grandmother 
say  that  the  first  summer  she  lived  there,  no  floors  were 
laid,  only  loose  boards  put  in  place,  and  a  board  laid 
across  the  timbers  for  a  shelf  on  which  to  set  her  dishes. 
There  ^vere  no  doors,  windows  or  a  chimney.  A  tem- 
porary fireplace  was  built  out  of  doors  where  she  did  her 
cooking  ;  and  they  went  through  the  woods  to  a  spring, 
not  far  from  the  house,  for  Avater.  When  the  cool  autumn 
Aveather  came  on,  the  chimneys  were  built,  the  doors 
hung,  windows  put  in,  and  the  house  made  more  com- 
fortable for  the  approaching  winter.  Thus  my  grand- 
father went  on  doing  a  little  at  a  time,  as  his  limited 
means  would  allow,  from  year  to  year,  until  at  last  the 
wood  M'as  cleared   away  from  the  place,    and  his    land 


OTHER    PEOPLE    AND    INCIDENTS  1 2/ 

brought  under  a  good  state  of  cultivation,  with  mowing, 
pasture  land  and  tillage.  He  had  a  fine  apple  orchard 
beginning  to  bear  nice  fruit.  His  house  was  finished 
and  though  not  large,  made  a  comfortable  dwelling, 
with  wood-house,  granary,  barn  and  workshop.  All  this 
was  done  in  about  twenty  years.  With  the  small  means 
he  had  at  his  disposal,  his  growing  family  of  nine 
children  to  feed,  clothe  and  care  for,  he  must  have  been 
a  remarkably  good  calculator,  a  frugal,  industrious  man, 
and  my  grandmother  his  true  helpmeet." 


THE    HENSHAW    PLACE. 


CAPTAIN  NATHANIP:L  ALLEX  came  here  from 
Boston  about  the  year  1756  and  Hved  on  the 
place  now  owned  by  INIr.  Samuel  D.  Ward.  He 
w^as  a  sea-faring-  man,  had  been  in  various  parts  of  the 
world  and  had  ac(|uired  a  sufticient  amount  of  property 
to  enable  him  to  build  himself  a  house  a  little  handsomer 
than  his  neig-hbors.  It  was  well  built,  too,  and  had  the 
look  of  being  rather  grand,  perched  high  up  from  the 
road,  and  nearer  to  it  than  the  present  house  stands. 
The  style  of  building  was  different  from  the  ordinary 
New  EuQ^land  country  houses  and  was  built  with  a  curb 
roof  and  dormer  windows.  The  outer  walls  were  brick- 
lined,  as  a  protection  against  the  bullets  of  any  enemy. 
The  rooms  were  higher  than  those  in  most  houses  and 
the  windows  larger.  The  front  door  was  quite  imposing 
with  its  caryed  side  posts  and  cornice  oyerhead  sur- 
mounted by  a  spread  eagle,  all  brought  from  England, 
no  work  of  the  kind  then  being  done  in  this  country. 
The    door    opened   into    a    hall  which    ran    through  the 


THE    HENSHAW    PLACE. 


THE    HENSHAW    PLACE 


131 


house  from  north  to  south,  and  a  broad  flight  of  stairs 
led  to  the  rooms  above.  The  house  was  in  its  latter 
days  painted  yellow,  and  called  by  the  children  "The 
old  yellow  castle,"  so  grand  it  seemed  to  them.  East  of 
the  house  was  Capt.  Allen's  small  store  where  he  kept  a 
stock  in  trade.  He  had  a  slave  called  by  the  name  of 
Noah,  whom  he  sent  one  night  in  the  early  spring  with 
an  errand  to  the  Baldwin  Tavern.  He  appears  to  have 
been  unacquainted  with  the  sociability  of  Shrewsbury 
frogs,  for  as  he  was  passing  the  brook  in  the  yard  on  his 
way  home  he  heard  a  voice  calling  out  as  he  thought, 
"  Noah  Allen,"  ''Noah  Allen,"  ''Nigger  Man,"  "I'll  have 
him."  For  one  instant  he  listened  to  the  words  spoken 
in  such  a  weird  tone,  and  then  wild  with  fright  he  fled, 
and  "not  a  moment  stopped  or  staid  he"  until  he  arrived 
at  his  own  master  s  door  in  safety.  Capt.  Allen  appears 
to  have  had  more  than  one  slave,  for  we  hear  of  his 
being  at  the  Baldwin  Tavern  one  day  with  his  black  man 
Boston  and  his  little  son  Lewis,  his  son  Caleb  being  left 
at  home.  While  Capt.  Allen  was  talking  with  others 
who  were  standing  near,  the  little  boy  Lewis,  in  climb- 
ing about,  fell  into  the  well.  He  was  soon  recovered, 
but  the  father  was  more  frightened  than  the  boy,  and 
told  Boston  to  run  home  and  see  if  Caleb  had  not  fallen 
into  their  well,  for  he  never  knew  Lewis  do  any  kind  of 
a  trick  that  Caleb  did  not  do  the  same  thing  immediately. 
Boston  obeyed  orders  but  found  Caleb  had  not  thought 
of   falling    into    the    well.      Lewis   Allen  lived  to  grow 


132  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

up  and  became  a  goldsmith  by  trade.  He  also  grew  into 
such  a  dangerous  Tory  that  his  townsmen  desired  him 
to  seek  a  residence  elsewhere.  He  respected  their  re- 
quest and  removed  to  Leicester,  where  he  purchased  the 
IMount  Pleasant  farm  of  Col.  Joseph  Henshaw,  who 
bought  Allen's  farm  in  Shrewsbury  and  removed  there  in 
1781.  Lewis  Allen  died  at  Mount  Pleasant  and  at  his 
'Own  request  was  buried  in  the  garden  near  the  road 
that,  as  he  said,  he  might  "hear  the  news  when  the 
stage  goes  by  ;*'  and  he  threatened  vengeance  on  the 
one  who  should  desecrate  his  grave,  hi  the  course  of 
time  some  owner  plowed  over  the  grave  and  ever  after 
the  place  was  haunted,  his  ghost  always  troubling  any- 
one who  ventured  to  live  there. 

Col.  Henshaw  ^^'as  a  sea  captain  in  early  life,  had 
spent  much  time  at  sea  and  in  foreign  lands,  from 
whence  he  brought  home  treasures  of  many  kinds  and 
a  large  quantity  of  silver  ware.  At  the  opening  of  hos- 
tilities Avith  Great.  Britain  he  was  sent  as  delegate  from 
Leicester  to  the  first  Provincial  Congress,  in  Oct.,  1774, 
and  the  next  month  was  one  of  a  committee  "to  make 
an  estimate  of  the  loss  and  damage  of  every  kind  to  the 
province  by  the  Boston  port  bill,  and  the  act  for  altering 
the  civil  government."  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
second  Congress  and  one  of  a  committee  "  to  establish 
an  intimate  correspondence  with  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province  of  Quebec.''  He  was  also  sent  to  Connecticut 
to  consult  with  the  Governor  and  General  Assemblv  on 


THE    HENSHAW    PLACE  I  33 

matters  relating^  to  Col.  Benedict  Arnold  and  the  stores 
which  he  was  conveying  to  Ticonderoga,  requesting  that 
.an  effort  be  made  to  have  any  surplus  stores  sent  to  the 
Province  of  Massachusetts,  ammunition  and  guns  being 
much  needed  there.  He  went,  and  the  Congress  allowed 
for  his  own  expenses  and  those  of  his  servant,  ^7.14. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  Congressional  resolve  : 
''Resolved,  That  Col.  Joseph  Henshaw  be  appointed 
and  directed  to  repair  to  Hartford  and  inquire  whether 
provision  is  made,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Col- 
ony of  Connecticut,  for  securing  and  maintaining  the 
fortress  of  Ticonderoga  and  acquaint  Col.  Arnold  that  it 
is  the  order  of  this  Congress  that  he  return  and  render 
accounts  of  his  expenses  in  that  expedition,  in  order  that 
he  may  be  honorably  discharged  :  But  if  Col.  Henshaw 
shall  find  that  such  provision  is  not  made,  and  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  be  not  sitting,  that  he  proceed  to  Ticon- 
deroga, and  inform  Col.  Arnold  that  it  is  the  order  of 
this  Congress  that  he  continue  there,  with  such  number 
of  fe)rces  as  said  Col.  Henshaw  shall  judge  necessary  for 
the  purpose.  Nevertheless,  if  the  said  Col.  Henshaw 
shall  thid  the  General  Assembly  sitting,  and  that  they 
have  not  made  such  provision,  that  he  consult  with  them 
touching  this  important  matter,  and  take  their  proposals, 
and  immediately  make  report  to  the  Congress  of  this 
Colony."  During  the  Revolutionary  War  he  was  elected 
to  many  important  oflices  and  distinguished  himself  by 
his  patriotism  and  bravery.      He  lived  but   a  few  years 


134  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREVVSBURY 

after  coming  to  Shrewsbury,  but  his  widow,  Mrs.  Sally 
Henshaw,  continued  to  live  on  the  Henshaw  Place, 
noted  for  her  deeds  of  kindness  and  benevolence. 
One  picture  that  we  have  of  her  is  as  she  was  sitting 
beside  the  bed  of  her  servant,  poor  black  Jack,  who 
was  dying  of  a  fever,  fanning  him  to  keep  away  the 
flies,  for,  she  said,  "It  seems  as  if  the  flies  would  eat 
up  poor  Jack."  Aunt  Sally  Henshaw  was  not  only 
kind-hearted,  but  she  wore  beautiful  dresses  and  was 
very   handsome   herself  when  she    was    young. 

In  the  lane  that  led  from  the  yard  to  the  woods  and 
pastures  to  the  south,  old  black  Ccesar  and  his  wife  had 
their  little  house  where  they  lived  and  worked  for  the 
Henshaw  family.  Hannah  had  a  great  fondness  for 
''the  ardent  "'and  frequently  allowed  her  love  for  it  to 
overcome  her  prudence  and  drank  too  freely,  but  Caesar 
carried  a  steady  head  and  kept  things  smooth  at  home. 
The  poor  woman's  retribution  overtook  her  at  last,  and 
one  fatal  day  Dec.  26,  1807,  after  having  taken  most  of 
the  contents  of  her  jug,  she  tried  to  lift  it  to  its  place  on 
the  shelf  over  the  fireplace,  but  her  joints  were  weak 
and  gave  way  all  at  once  and  she  fell  in  a  heap  on  the 
fire.  Ca?sar  being  near  by,  picked  her  up  and  did  what 
he  could  for  her  dreadful  burns,  bestowing  most  loving 
care  upon  her.  In  a  day  or  two  he  left  her  for  a  short 
time  to  go  on  some  errand  and  when  he  returned  the 
door  was  blocked  by  something  on  the  inside.  In  at 
the  window  he  went  and  found  Hannah  sitting  on  the 


•  THE    HENSHAW    PLACE  135 

floor,  her  back  against  the  door,  her  hand  on  the  bed- 
post and  she  was  dead.  The  poor  man  was  heart- 
broken, and  when  some  days  after  a  neighbor  went  to 
see  how  it  fared  with  him,  the  door  was  again  found 
blocked  on  the  inside,  another  entrance  at  the  window 
and  old  Caesar  was  sitting  with  his  back  against  the 
door,  his  hand  on  the  bed-post,  and  he  dead.  He  died 
of  grief,  and  his  heart  was  really  broken  for  his  dear, 
black,  drinking  wife.  To  conclude  this  mournful  and 
truthful  tale,  the  house  itself  burned  down  not  long 
after  and  only  a  few  stones  now  mark  the  spot  where 
this  loving  couple  lived  and  had  their  tragic  end. 

Aunt  Sally,  after  having  become  blind,  went  to  live 
with  her  brother  Joshua  Henshaw,  who  was  a  man  of 
some  prominence  in  Boston,  once  owned  Spectacle 
Island  in  the  harbor  and  removed  to  Shrewsbury  to 
spend  his  last  years,  living  in  the  house  wdiich  was 
moved  away  in  1876,  from  the  site  where  now  stands 
the    residence    of  the    late    Hon.   Thomas    Rice. 

Squire  "Josh"  was  a  very  slender  man  and  fun  was 
occasionally  poked  at  him  on  that  account.  He  was 
once  annoyed  at  the  continuous  efforts  of  a  tin  peddler 
to  prevail  upon  him  to  purchase  some  of  his  wares  and 
he  finally  asked  the  peddler  if  he  had  not  a  pair  of  boots 
that  would  fit  him.  "Yes,"  said  the  peddler,  "here  is 
just  the  fit,"  handing  him  a  pair  of  tin  candle  moulds. 

The  old  house  was  taken  down  in  1852  and  the  present 
one    erected.     The  well   sweep    still   remains    as   when 


136  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

Caesar  drew  the  water  from  the  well,  the  same  well  into 
which  the  youthful  Samuel  Ward  once  fell,  and  when  he 
was  brought  up  unhurt,  wanted  to  go  back  and  get 
his  hat.  The  well  and  the  house  are  shaded  by  three  of 
the  four  elms  which  were  set  out  by  Aunt  Sally's  name- 
sake and  niece;  and  not  far  from  Caesar's  house-site 
stands  the  old  sassafras  tree,  as  large  one  hundred  years 
ago  as  it  is  to-day,  from  which  several  generations  of 
children  have  peeled  the  fragrant  bark  to  chew  on  their 
way  to  school.  Aunt  Henshaw's  June  roses  still  bloom 
on  the  bank  in  front,  bright  and  red  as  they  bloomed  in 
the  days  gone  by  when  ]\Irs.  Henshaw  herself  came  out 
with  stately  step  to  see  how  her  garden  grew,  or  the 
gay  young  niece  who  visited  her  ran  out  to  pluck  a 
nosegay  on  a  Sunday  morning  to  wear  in  her  belt  to 
church. 


SHREWSBURY  IN  THE  REVOLUTION. 


SKETCH    OF    GENERAL    WARD. 

ARTEMAS  WARD  was  born  November  27th,  1727, 
in  the  house  afterward  known  as  the  "Baldwin 
Tavern,"  which  his  father  Nahum  Ward  built,  as 
we  have  seen  in  a  former  chapter.  Here  he  spent  his 
early  life,  and  when  seventeen  years  of  age  entered 
Harvard  College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  at  the 
ao-e  of  twenty-one  years.  He  was  then  attracted  to  the 
pleasant  town  of  Groton,  Mass.,  where  he  taught  school 
for  a  time,  boarding  in  the  family  of  the  Rev.  Caleb 
Trowbridge,  whose  wife  was  a  granddaughter  of  the 
old  puritan  minister.  Rev.  Increase  Mather,  one  of  the 
leading  theologians  in  the  time  of  the  Salem  Witch- 
craft, and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  witches  re- 
ceived   little  favor  at  his  hands. 

After  the  school  teaching  was  over  Artemas  Ward 
married  Sarah,  daughter  of  the  Graton  minister,  who 
is  said  to  have  inherited  some  of  the  firm  character- 
istics of  her  Mather  ancestors.      They  commenced  their 


138  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

married  life  in  the  house  on  Rocky  Plain,  which  his 
father  had  presented  to  him,  and  being  commissioned 
one  of  his  Majesty's  justices,  he  there  had  his  law 
office  where  offenders  were  summoned  to  appear  be- 
fore him  to  be  tried  for  their  misdeeds.  There,  too, 
he  kept  a  small  store,  and  by  his  account  book,  which 
is  preserved  in  good  condition,  he  must  have  done  a 
thriving  business.  His  rum  and  molasses  he  bought 
by  the  barrel  in  Boston,  of  Joshua  Winslow^  and  he 
bought  his  broadcloth  of  John  Hancock.  Very  little 
is  known  of  his  life  at  this  time,  save  that  he  held 
some  town  offices,  being  town  -clerk,  selectman,  and 
representative  to  the  General  Court.  The  first  glimpse 
which  we  have  of  his  military  life  is  that  he  was  Cap- 
tain of  the  first  company  raised  in  this  town.  In  1755 
he  was  commissioned  Major  in  the  Third  Regiment, 
Abraham  Williams  being  Colonel.  In  1758  he  was 
made  Lieutenant  Colonel  in  the  Regiment  of  foot 
commanded  by  Col.  William  Williams  and  raised  for 
the  invasion  of  Canada,  setting  out  for  the  wars  in 
May    of    that    year. 

The  following  extracts  are  made  from  his  Journal 
kept  during  the  expedition:  "  I\Iay  30,  1758.  ]\Iarched 
to  Brookfield,  lodged  at  Hastings's;  31st  to  Northamp- 
ton, lodged  at  Gideon  Lymans ;  June  3.  Seven  com- 
panies of  our  Regiment  marched  ten  miles  to  ye  Coffee 
house  and  emcamped. 

7th.     The  whole    Regiment    marched   for    Greenbush 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  1 39 

by  ye  way  of  Connameak,  marched  13  miles,  my 
horse  flung  me  into  a  River. 

9.  Marched  nine  miles  &  came  to  Greenbush,  lodged 
at  Capt.    Dows,  drew  provision  for  7  days  for  ye  Regt. 

14.  Marched  to  Saratoga,  15  miles.  Left  Capt.  Ball 
at   ye   falls,   Lieut.  Rice  at   Fort  Meor. 

16.  Marched  to  Fort  Edward  and  encamped — 17, 
built  a  brest  work  on  ye  west    end  of   ye  encampment. 

19.  The  General  with  his  aid  de  camp  came  to 
see  the  Provincial  Troops ;  was  pleased  with  Col. 
Williams'   Encampment. 

20.  The  Honbie  Col.  Gage  &  Col.  Haldiman  came 
to  pay  Col.  Williams  a  visit.  The  General  not  well. 
The  French  Flag  uneasy  because  not  sent  away — an 
acc<^  of  the  arrival  of  the  Storeship,  an  ace*  of  Lord 
Hows  arrival  at  the  Lake  with  a  number  of  Battoes, 
an  acct  of  one  of  Rogers  men  killed  by  the  guard  at 
Half-way  brook. 

22.  An  acc^  of  a  party  of  100  Lidians  discovered  on 
the  East  side  ye  River,  a  party  of  200  from  Prebbles 
Ruggles  &  Nichols  regiment  ordered  out  in  quest  of 
them  made  no  discovery.  Ruggles  &  Williams  Regi- 
ment musterd  by  Brig^f  Gen^  Gage  who  did  Col.  Wil- 
liams ye  Honor  to  say,  was  his  Regt  in  uniform  it 
would  be  one  of  the  finest  he  ever  saw. 

24.  A  large  detachment  to  escort  y  teams  &  assist 
in  Building  a  fort  came  to  this  place  three  prisoners 
(who  escaped    from    Canada)   about    12    o'clock   A.    M. 


I40  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

brot  an  acc^  that  ye  French  were  raising-  all  their 
forces — that  they  were  in  great  want  of  provisions — - 
that   but   few   Indians  had  joyned  them  as   yet. 

June  25.  About  400  teams  &  Wagons  passed  on  to 
ye  Lake  with  stores — preached  from  Deut.  23d  9. 
About  150  of  Col.  Williams  Regiment  with  a  large 
detachment  from  the  Inkskilling  &  Rugglcs  Regiments 
Imployed  in  building  a  stockade  fort  at  Half-way 
Brook. 

28.  Left  Half-way  Brook  &  came  to  Lake  George 
— encamped. 

July   I  St.      Battoes   loaded  with  Artilery  &   Stores. 

2.  Battoes  given  to  all  the  Provincial  Troops  to 
load  with   flour  Pork  &c. 

4.  Orders  given  for  Heavy  Baggage  to  be  put  on 
Board. 

5.  Sailed.  In  y^  Evening  put  a  shore  tarried  about 
2  hours  &  refreshed  ourselves,  then  came  up  Lord 
How   &  ordered  all   to   come  under  sail. 

6.  Landed  without  opposition  &  killed  4  of  the 
enemy,  took  6  prisoners  all  y^  rest  after  destroying 
their  Block  house  fled — 12  o  clock  set  out  for  ye  mills 
met  ye  enemy  Ingaged  them.  Lord  How  fell  in  Bat- 
tle with  about  10  more,  the  line  of  march  broke  all 
in  confusion,  returned  to  ye  place  we  landed  at  & 
Incamped  with  160  prisoners,  many  of  the  enemy 
slain  viz  160. 

7th  marched  and   took    possession    of   ye  mills — Will^^ 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  14^ 

&  Prebbs  Reg^s  marched  from   ye  mills  and  built  a  brest 
work   within    ^  mile  of  the  French  &  encamped. 

8.  Formed  our  lines  before  y^  enemys  brest  works, 
the  fire  began  at  9  lasted  till  Night  many  slain.  Began 
to  build  a  brest  work  but  soon  shamefully  retreated 
to   our  old  brest  tvork. 

9.  In  ye  morning  arrived  at  ye  Battoes  went  on 
board  and  in  ye  afternoon  came  to  ye  place  went 
from   on  ye  5th  instant  &  encamped. 

10.  Nothing  but  Confusion. 

13.  We  movd  &  pitched  our  tents  by  ye  French  In- 
trenchment. 

July  19.  Heard  two  men  were  killed  and  scalped 
at  Stillwater  yesterday. 

20.  3  Capts  2  Liets  i  Ens"  &  21  privates  slain  (& 
missing)  Between  this  and  Half-way  Brook. 

21.  A  general  Court  martial,  In  which  there  was 
one  sentenced  to  be  hanged  for  stealing  and  2  others 
to  receive  100  lashes  each. 

29.  Majs  Rogers  &  Putnam  with  700  men  sent 
down  at  2  o  clock  in  ye  morn  to  ye  Lake  &  10  to 
South    Bay  to  Intercept  the  Enemy  in  their  return. 

31st.  News  from  Half-way  Brook  of  ye  Enemy 
marching  toward  Fort  Edward. 

August  3^-      Docf  Ashley  deceased  at    Saratoga. 

Aug.  8.  Heard  that  2  of  Lord  Hows  Regt  was 
found  scalped  which  was  supposed  to  have  deserted 
from     ye   Regt    before    we   went    to   Ticonderoga   with 


142  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

one  more  which  some  days  since  was  taken  up  by 
some  of  our  men  and  is  now  under  arrest,  it  is  thought 
that  he  was  with  the  Indians  that  feU  upon  ye  teams 
on  ye  28^^  of  July  last.  It  is  thought,  he  will  suffer 
death  for  his  crime, 

9.  News  from  Rogers  that  he  had  got  forty  scalps 
iSc  two  prisoners,  he  lost  20  &  had  50  men  wounded 
two  brought  into  Fort  Edward  that  was  scalped  but 
alive — ye  truth  is  they  gave  ye  enemy  a  good  drub- 
bing this  time. 

13.  Last  night  ye  french  Flag  of  truce  went  off — 
this  day  Capt.  ^Maynard  returned  from  his  scout  with 
]Maj.  Rogers,  he  went  to  south  bay  fort  Ann  then  to 
Fort  Edward  &  Saratoga  he  said  he  had  7  men  shot 
down  within  the  length  of  his  gun  of  him,  in  time  of 
the  engagement. 

20.  This  day  news  came  to  head  Quarters  from  a 
letter  from  Gov.  Hutchinson  of  ye  surrender  of  Cape 
Breton  that   it   surrendered  ye  26  of  July  last. 

21.  Lt  Johnson  of  Capt-  Jacobs  company  went  out 
on  a  scout  with  about  15  or  16  Indians  and  English 
to  reconoiter  and  get  a  Captive  if  possible. 

25.  Went  to  half-way  brook  with  550  officers  &  men 
&  relieved  the   party  stationed  there. 

Sept  15.  Nothing  remarkable  saving  Broadstreats 
taking  Saratoga  on  ye  27  of  August   last." 

A  musket  with  bayonet  and  cartridge-box  are  some 
of  the  trophies  sent  home  from  the  war  by  Col.  Ward, 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  I43 

and  are  now  in  the  possession  of  his  descendants. 
At  the  time  of  this  war  one-third  of  all  the  able 
bodied  men  of  Massachusetts  were  in  the  field.  Of 
the  number  who  went  from  Shrewsbury,  Mr.  Harlow 
in   his   History  traces  but  nine   names. 

Lt.   Col.   Artemas  Ward,  John  Wheeler, 

Lt.    Marshall  Newton,  William  Howe, 

Ensign  Nathan  Howe,  Aaron  wSmith, 

Dr.    Edward  Flint,  Joshua  Smith, 

Caleb  Parker. 
The  two  Howe  brothers  and  Aaron  Smith  came 
home  sick,  and  the  town  granted  them  each  an  allow- 
ance of  several  shillings  on  account  of  their  sickness. 
An  old  document  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy, 
reveals  some  other  names  : 

''Shrewsbury  May  ye  2d  1758  We  y^  Subscribers  do 
hereby  acknowledge  that  we  have  rec^  of  Artemas 
Ward  fifty  shillings  each,  it  being  in  full  for  ye  fifty 
shillings  bounty  allowed  by  ye  General  Court  for  In- 
listing  into  ye  Canada  Expedition. 

In   witness   whereof  we  have  hereto  set  our  hands — • 
John  Morse,  Ephraim  Pratt, 

John  Newton,  Ezekiel  Knowlton, 

RuFus  Taylor,  Luke  Knowlton, 

John  Hapgood,  Nahum  Eager, 

Stephen  Parker,   Jr.,       Benjamin  Eager 
Timothy  Howard,  for  negro  Pompey. 

Solomon  Eay.  " 


144-  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

In  July  1765  the  following  named  persons  received 
each,  nine  pounds  bounty  from  the  muster  master,  Col. 
Artemas  Ward,  "for  enlisting  into  the  service  of  ye 
Province  of  y^  Massachusetts  Bay  in  ye  year  afore- 
said"—  John  Taplix, 

William  Jordan, 

John  Love, 

Elias  Witt, 

David  Boynton, 

Ephraim  Stone, 

Jonathan  Sjiith, 

Samuel  Pegon, 

Benjamin  Warren, 
These    names    are  all    under    date    of  Shrewsbury  at 
the    same    time.       ^Ir.     Harlow    mentions    one    voung; 

■J  o 

Shrewsbury  hero,  Jonah  Taylor  who  went  in  his  youth- 
ful ardor  with  the  famous  expedition  against  Cape 
Breton  under  Sir  William  Pepperell  and  fell  at  Louis- 
burg  in  1745.  On  his  return  from  this  expedition  Col. 
Ward  resumed  his  place  in  town  affairs,  administering 
justice  to  the  unruly  and  throwing  his  influence  on 
the  right  side  of  the  grave  questions  then  arising  among 
the   people. 

In  1762  he  sold  his  house  on  Rocky  Plain  to  Rev. 
]\Ir.  Sumner  and  removed  to  the  place  since  known 
as  the  Ward  Homestead,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
King's  highwav  from  the  Baldwin  Tavern. 

When  the  original   part  of   the    house    at  the    Home- 


^/^^,...,_^ 


af-aj 


^/^Uf7^ 


SIGNATURES    OF    VOLUNTEERS    IN    THE 
CANADIAN    EXPEDITION. 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  I47 

stead  was  erected  is  not  definitely  known.  Probably 
it  is  one  of  the  numerous  houses  built  by  Nahum  Ward. 
Like  most  country  houses  of  that  time,  it  had  two 
rooms  in  front,  one  on  each  side  of  the  front  door  and 
a  small  entry  between.  A  large  chimney  afforded  fire- 
places in  the  two  rooms  and  also  in  the  long-  kitchen 
behind  them.  In  1785  the  house  was  enlarged  and 
somewhat  modernized,  but  many  old  features  remain. 
The  hand-made  window  sashes,  and  heavy  blinds,  the 
great  locks  and  hinges  on  the  doors  often  excite  the 
curiosity  of  the  present  generation,  and  it  has  been 
sometimes  rare  sport  for  the  children  to  search  out  all 
the  closets,  cupboards  and  cranny  places  in  the  house, 
some  of  which  are  not  easily  found.  Like  the  Pease 
Tavern,  there  is  a  swing  partition  between  two  rooms 
upstairs  which  can  be  raised  to  make  one  large  room. 
The  fireplaces  have  nearly  all  been  bricked  up,  but  the 
brick  oven  in  the  kitchen  is  still  in  good  order,  and 
the  stone  hearth  lies  before  the  fireplace  as  if  waiting 
for  those  good  old  times  to  return  when  the  back-log 
and  fore-stick  with  a  whole  load  of  smaller  wood  fill- 
ing in  the  space  between,  would  blaze  again  and  fill 
the  room  with  light  and  heat.  The  crane  is  shut  up 
there  waiting  to  bear  its  weight  of  pots  and  kettles  as 
in  the  ancient  time  when  the  fair  faces  and  plump 
arms  of  the  dames  who  ruled  their  own  kitchens,  kept 
fair  to  the  last  in  spite  of  the  roaring,  scorching  fire 
before    which    they     cooked    their    dinners,     happy    in 


148  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

their  ignorance  of  a  cooking  stove.  The  kitchen  dres- 
ser is  now  enclosed  with  doors,  but  the  shining  pew- 
ter that  once  adorned  the  shelves  is  scattered  through 
the  land  in  different  homes.  The  heavy,  sliding  win- 
dow shutters  still  shut  out  the  cold  in  winter  nights, 
as  they  did  when  the  young  folks  gathered  about  the 
bright  log  fire  to  crack  their  hickory  nuts  and  roast 
their  apples  and  chestnuts.  The  apples  twirling  on 
their  strings,  sputtered  in  the  heat  until  the  juice  drop- 
ped down  on  to  the  ashes  below,  where  the  chestnuts 
were  roasting  and  bursting  their  shells,  scattering  the 
ashes  into  the  mugs  of  cider  warming  on  the  hearth, 
over  the  shining  apples  above,  and  all  about,  making 
ofreat  merriment,  for  whichever  ^^'av  one  flew  was  to- 
ward  the  true  love  of  the  owner  of  that  very  chestnut. 
Cracking  their  nuts  and  their  jokes  they  had  their  fun, 
knowing  that  if  they  became  too  uproarious  the  Gen- 
eral would  come  to  the  door  and  bid  them  "keep 
more  quiet."  The  cellar  door  has  the  old  fashioned 
latch  pulled  up  by  a  leather  string,  like  the  one  little 
Red-riding-hood  lifted  at  her  grandmother's  door.  The 
long  poles  hanging  horizontally  in  their  supports  a  few 
inches  from  the  ceiling  were  used  for  drying  apples 
and  pumpkins,  and  here,  too,  were  kept  the  guns. 
Sometimes  the  boys  would  drill  in  the  kitchen,  and 
the  low  ceiling  still  shows  the  marks  where  it  was  hit 
in  the  "shoulder  arms!"  In  the  "best  room,'"' now  the 
''middle  room,"  was  the  buffet  which  was,  in  the  reno- 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  I49 

vation,  consigned  to  the   cellar  as  being-  old-fashioned. 

The  summers  running  across  the  ceiling,  the  corner 
posts  and  beams  around  the  tops  of  the  rooms,  the 
stout  timbers,  the  spars  in  the  garret  fastened  with 
great  wooden  pins,  bracing  up  the  roof,  the  massive 
masonry  in  the  cellar  supporting  the  chimneys,  all 
show  that  the  house  was  not  built  for  that  time  alone, 
but  with  a  thought  for  future  generations.  It  was 
from  this  humble  dwelling  that  Artemas  Ward  went 
forth  to  take  that  active  and  prominent  part  in  the 
political  affairs  of  our  country  in  which  he  distin- 
guished himself  for  his  pure  patriotism,  his  strict  integ- 
rity and  stern  sense  of  justice  and  duty  from  which 
he  allowed  nothing  to  turn  him  aside.  In  1763  he  was 
commissioned  Colonel,  and  in  trainino^  his  men  he 
sometimes  gave  them  lessons  in  politics.  Fighting  for 
the  king  against  the  French  was  a  thing  of  the  past ; 
they  must  now  look  out  for  their  own  rights  that 
were  being  encroached  upon  by  Parliament,  and  the 
militia  companies  instead  of  being  eager  to  learn  how 
to  best  serve  their  king,  were  seeking  to  break  away 
from  his  allegiance   altogether. 

Hints  of  Colonel  Ward's  disloyalty  to  kingly  rule 
came  to  the  ears  of  the  royal  Governor,  Francis  Ber- 
nard, who  as  a  loyal  subject  of  the  king  was  bound 
to  suppress  anything  like  treachery ;  accordingly,  he 
sent  a  messenger  post-haste  to  Col.  Ward's  house 
with  a  letter.      It  was  the  day  when    the  old  meeting- 


150  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

house  was  being-  torn  down,  and  men  had  collected 
from  all  parts  of  the  to\\'n  to  take  part  in  the  work. 
Being  directed  there  the  messenger  spurred  on  his 
horse,  and  finding  Col.  Ward  with  the  others,  pre- 
sented him  with  the  letter,  resting  his  horse  while  it 
was  being  opened  to  see  how  the  message  was  re- 
ceived. The  assembled  townsmen  were  curious  to 
know  what  the  important  message  could  be  that 
required  such  haste  in  the  rider  in  the  scarlet  coat. 
Col.  Ward  then  read  aloud: 

''Boston,   June    30,    1766. 
To  Artemas  Ward   Esq"" 

Sir. —I  am  ordered  by  the  Governor  to  signify  to 
you  that  he  has  thought  fit  to  supersede  your  Com- 
iTiission  of  Col.  in  the  Regiment  of  militia  lying  in 
part  in  the  County  of  Worcester  and  partly  in  the 
County  of  IMiddlesex — And  your  said  Commission  is 
superseded  accordingly. 

I  am  Sir,    your  most  ob'"t  and  humble  serv't 

Jno.    Cotton,    Deputy  Secretary.'^ 

Col.  Ward  then  turning  to  the  messenger  said  "Give 
my  compliments  to  the  Governor  and  say  to  him  that 
I  consider  myself  twice  honored,  but  mere  in  being 
superseded  than  m  being  commissioned,  and"  (holding 
up  the  letter)  "that  I  thank  him  for  this,  since  the 
motive  that  dictated  it  is  evidence  that  I  am  what 
he  is  not,  a  friend  to  my  country."  Bearing  this  mes- 
sage   the    horseman    in    the    king's    livery    turned    his 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  I5I 

horse  and  rode  off  amid  the  shouts  of  the  people 
''Colonel  Ward  forever  !"  So  bravely  and  without  hesi- 
tation did  he  accept  the  situation,  and  so  firmly  did 
he  abide  by  the  stand  which  he  had  taken,  that  he 
secured   the  love  and  confidence  of  New  England. 

King  George  III.  was  not  beloved  by  his  subjects 
in  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  his  repre- 
sentative, the  Governor  thereof,  felt  that  rebellion  was 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  And  truly  they  did  rebel 
against  the  heavy  taxations  and  the  many  acts  of 
oppression  placed   upon  them. 

The  lawdoving,  law-abiding  descendants  of  the  Puri- 
tans liked  it  not  that  the  king  should  send  his  Red- 
coats to  preserve  order  among  the  most  orderly  of 
mankind,  and  Artemas  Ward  w^ith  his  keen  sense  of 
justice  could  ill  brook  the  insult.  The  colonists 
aroused  to  action,  sent  men  of  tried  integrity  and 
loyalty  to  their  cause,  to  act  as  the  Governor's  coun- 
cil, and  thus  protect  their  rights.  Shrewsbury  sent 
Artemas  Ward,  but  the  Governor,  loyal  to  the  king, 
would  have  none  of  him,  and  sent  him  home  for  the 
same  reason  that  he  withdrew  his  commission.  The 
people  then  sent  him  as  their  representative  to  the 
General  Court,  where  he  remained  and  acted  with  that 
body. 

For  some  years  there  had  been  turbulent  times  in 
Boston  :  the  independent  spirit  of  America  was  aroused 
by   the    presence    of    the    British    soldiers,    who    were 


152 


OLD  TIMES  IN  SHREWSBURY 


pleased  at  times  to  show  their  authority,  consequently 
there  was  a  tight  between  them  and  some  of  the  Bos- 
ton workmen,  and  Crispus  Attuks  (who  has  since  been 
immortalized  as  a  hero,)  was  killed.  This  was  called 
a  massacre,  and  was  followed  by  a  more  determined 
show  of  resistance.  IMobs  and  riots  turned  the  for- 
merly peaceful  city  into  a  place  of  terror.  The  people 
were  becoming-  poor  by  taxation  ;  the  already  poor  were 
crushed  by  it  and  reduced  to  real  suffering.  Kind 
friends  in  the  country  and  in  other  Colonies  took  from 
their  own  scanty  stores  to  help  them  in  their  need,  for 
these  stories  were  not  long  in  passing  over  the  hills. 
Groups  of  men  talked  them  over  in  the  bar-rooms  at 
Baldwin's  and  Farrar's  ;  there  was  war  in  the  air  ! 
Shrewsbury  Captains  drilled  their  men;  all  the  old  flint 
locks  were  brushed  up  and  primed  ready  for  use  at  a 
minute's  notice,  when  their  owners  should  receive  the 
word.  Indians  and  wild  cats  were  forgotten ;  it  was  the 
Red-coats  now  !  When  the  young  men  burned  their  tea 
in  Ross  Wyman's  bar-room  they  expressed  a  feeling  that 
would  show  itself  later  in  burning  powder  when  the 
right  time  should  come,  and  they  waited  with  what 
patience  they  could,  for  the  motto  was,  ''The  British 
must  fire  the  first  shot  !" 

The  great  and  general  court  of  the  Province  of  INIassa- 
chusetts  Bay  being  deserted  by  the  Royal  Governor, 
Hon.  Thomas  Gage,  Esq.,  on  the  fifth  of  October,  1774, 
the  members  thereof  formed  themselves  into  a  Provin- 


SHREWSBURY  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  J  53 

cial  Congress,  and  held  their  first  session  at  Salem  Court 
House  two  days  later,  choosing  John  Hancock  president 
and  Benjamin  Lincoln  clerk.  Adjourning  to  the  meeting- 
house in  Concord,  a  committee  was  appointed  ''to  con- 
sider what  is  necessary  to  be  done  now  for  the  defense 
and  safety  of  the  Province,"  the  committee  to  consist  of 
thirteen,  "Hon.  Col.  Ward"  being  one.  It  was  found 
that  not  less  than  £20,^^,7  was  necessary  to  defray  the 
expense  of  firearms  and  ordnance,  in  addition  to  what 
was  already  in  their  possession.  This  appalling  sum 
did  not  dismay  these  intrepid  men  who  were  willing  to 
give  their  all  for  their  liberty. 

A  committee  of  safety  consisting  of  nine  was  also 
appointed  to  regulate  the  Militia  and  they  chose  three 
Generals,  Hon.  Jedediah  Preble,  Hon.  Artemas  Ward, 
Col.  Seth  Pomeroy.  Jedediah  Preble  did  not  accept  his 
appointment.  All  through  the  next  winter  the  Militia 
companies  in  the  towns  were  quietly  learning  the  ways 
of  war,  learning  to  send  their  balls  straight  to  the  mark 
and  to  waste  no  ammunition  by  false  shots.  Heavily 
loaded  wagons  were  seen  wending  their  way  towards 
Concord  where  the  ordnance  were  to  be  stored,  leaving 
their  loads  of  powder  and  balls  and  returning  for  more. 
The  teamsters  were  allowed  ninepence  per  mile. 

Shrewsbury  voted  to  raise  three  companies,  but  it 
appears  that  two  only  were  raised,  one  in  each  precinct 
—  the  south  (now  Shrewsbury)  under  Captain  Job 
Cushing  ;  the  north  (Boylston)  under  Captain  Ezra  Bea- 


154  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

man.  It  appears  also  that  these  two  companies  were 
consolidated  in  one,  Job  Cashing,  Captain,  and  Ezra 
Beaman,  first  Lieut.,  the  number  of  men  raised  not 
being   sufficient   for   two   companies. 

Before  the  war  was  over  Ezra  Beaman  won  the  title  of 
Major,  having  distinguished  himself  in  the  Bennington 
and  Saratoga  struggles.  He  is  one  of  Boylston's  famous 
men  and  an  account  of  his  valor  may  be  read  in  the 
History  of  Worcester  County.  The  place  where  he  lived 
is  called  the  "Beaman  farm"  to  this  day,  and  is  owned 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Harlow  of  Shrewsbury. 

In  March,  1773,  when  Doctor  Joseph  Warren  made 
his  bold  speech  in  the  Old  South  Church  on  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  massacre,  the  British  found  that  they  had 
more  than  a  handful  of  rebellious  children  with  whom 
to  deal.  On  the  fifteenth  of  April  the  Congress  at  Con- 
cord adjourned  to  convene  again  on  the  tenth  of  May, 
the  eleventh  of  May  being  appointed  as  a  day  of  fastings 
and  prayer  "for  the  gracious  interposition  of  Heaven 
and  the  restoration  of  their  invaded  liberties."  Not  fear- 
ing an  immediate  attack  from  the  British,  the  members 
of  Congress  left  Concord  for  their  homes,  excepting 
Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock,  who  stayed  a  few 
days  with  their  friend.  Rev.  Jonas  Clark,  in  Lexington. 
Gov.  Gage  having  had  orders  from  England  to  arrest 
these  two  dangerous  men  and  send  them  to  the  king  for 
trial,  it  was  thought  best  for  them  to  remain  in  the  se- 
clusion of  Lexington  for  awhile,  and  there  Paul  Revere 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  1 55 

found  them  when  he  took  his  midnight  ride  on  the 
eighteenth  of  April,  and  spoke  at  every  door  "A  word 
that  shall  echo  forevermore."  The  next  day  the  shot  for 
which  the  country  was  listening  was  fired  and  "heard 
round  the  world."  Then  the  pent  up  enthusiasm  of 
New  England  burst  into  flame,  and  when  the  historic 
white  horse  "bloody  with  spurring  and  dripping  with 
sweat"  passed  through  Shrewsbury,  its  rider  crying  out 
"To  arms!  To  arms!  The  war's  begun,"  men  leaped 
to  their  saddles  or  shouldered  their  arms,  and  Captain 
Cushing's  company  of  minute  men  were  on  the  mo- 
ment's notice  marching  toward  Boston.  Lieut.  Nathan 
Howe  was,  like  Israel  Putnam,  plowing  at  the  time  he 
heard  the  cry,  with  a  horse  and  a  pair  of  oxen  ;  mount- 
ing the  horse  he  set  off  to  rally  the  men.  Nathan, 
Junior,  cried  to  go,  too,  but  was  too  young,  being  only 
fifteen.  However  when,  two  years  later,  his  father  left 
the  army  because  his  constitution  was  broken  down 
with  exposure  and  labor,  he  was  allowed  to  have  his 
wish  and  v/ent  to  the  war,  remaining  in  the  service  till 
its  close. 

The  word  that  the  excited  horsemen  brought  to 
Shrewsbury  on  the  nineteenth  of  April  flew  through  the 
towns  with  such  rapidity  that  before  Saturday  night 
Boston  was  surrounded  by  an  army  of  sixteen  thousand 
men,  in  the  face  of  Governor  Gage's  proclamation  that 
all  rebels  taken  in  arms  should  be  brought  to  the 
gallows. 


156  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

Artemas  Ward  was  at  Cambridge  on  the  twentieth 
issuing-  orders  and  regulating  the  troops  as  they  came 
thronging  in.  On  the  nineteenth  of  May  the  Provincial 
Congress  accepted  the  form  of  a  commission  for  General 
Ward  and  the  next  day  ''Resolved  unanimously,  that 
the  president  be  desired  to  deliver  to  Gen.  Ward  the  com- 
mission prepared  for  him  by  this  Congress  as  General 
and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Massachusetts  forces. " 
The  commission  read  as  follows  : 
"  The  Congress  of  the  Colony  of  INIassachusetts  Bay  ' 

To  the  Honorable  Artemas  Ward,  Esquire,  Greeting  : 
W^e,  reposing  especial  trust  and  confidence  in  your 
courage  and  good  conduct,  do  by  these  presents  con- 
stitute and  appoint  you,  the  said  Artemas  Ward,  to  be 
General  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  all  the  forces  raised 
by  the  Congress  aforesaid,  for  the  defence  of  this  and 
the  other  American  Colonies. 

You  are  therefore  carefully  and  diligently  to  discharge 
the  duty  of  a  General  in  leading,  ordering,  and  exer- 
cising the  Forces  in  Arms,  both  inferior  officers  and 
soldiers,  and  to  keep  them  in  good  order  and  discipline, 
and  they  are  hereby  commanded  to  obey  you  as  their 
General  ;  and  you  are  yourself  to  observe  and  follow 
such  orders  and  instructions  as  you  shall,  from  time  to 
time,  receive  from  this  or  any  future  Congress  or  Plouse 
of  Representatives  of  this  Colony,  or  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  so  far  as  said  Committee  is  impowered  by  their 
commission  to  order  and  instruct  you  for  the  defence  of 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  I  57 

this  and  the  other  Colonies,  and  to  demean  yourself  ac- 
cording to  the  military  rule,  and  discipline,  established  by 
said  Congress  in  pursuance  of  the  trust  reposed  in  you. 

By  order  of  the  Congress 

Dated  19th  May  A.  D.   1775 

Jos.   Warren  Pres.  Pro.  Tem." 

This  commission  did  not  authorize  him  to  command 
the  forces  raised  in  other  Colonies,  of  which  large  num- 
bers were  daily  arriving  at  Cambridge.  The  Congress 
was  therefore  impressed  with  the  importance  of  having 
them  formed  into  one  army  and  under  the  leadership  of 
one  man.  Accordingly  John  Adams  was  sent  to  Phila- 
delphia to  confer  with  the  Continental  Congress  then 
in  session  there. 

His  nomination  of  George  Washington  met  with  ap- 
proval and  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  General  the 
following  June.  In  the  meantime  preparations  for  war 
were  being  made  at  Cambridge.  It  was  found  that  the 
number  of  firelocks  was  insufficient  for  the  number  of 
enlisted  men,  and  the  inhabitants  of  all  towns  who 
had  any  in  their  possession  were  requested  to  forward 
them  to  Watertown  and  receive  payment  for  the  same. 
Twenty-two  were  sent  from  Shrewsbury,  and  there  were 
found  here  five  barrels  of  powder,  of  which  one-half  a 
barrel  was  to  be  left  in  town. 

The  army  was  to  be  supplied  with  clothing,  and  the 
committee  of  supply  proportioned  out  the  coats  to  be 
made  in  different  towns.     Shrewsbury  was  to  make  79. 


158  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

They  were  "to  be  made  of  good,  plain  cloth,  preference 
to  be  given  to  the  manufactures  of  this  country,  and  to 
be  delivered  to  the  committee  of  supplies  without  but- 
tons, on  or  before  the  first  day  of  October  next,  and 
sooner  if  possible.  That  for  every  yard  of  such  cloth  of 
seven-eighths  of  a  yard  wide,  they  shall  be  allowed  and 
paid  the  sum  of  five  shillings  and  fourpence,  and  in  that 
proportion  for  cloth  of  a  greater  or  less  width,  and  the 
sum  of  four  shillings  for  each  and  every  coat ;  Resolved 
— that  each  coat  be  faced  with  the  same  kind  of  cloth  of 
which  it  is  made  ;  that  the  coats  be  made  in  the  com- 
mon, plain  way,  without  lappels,  short,  and  with  small 
folds,  and  that  the  select  men  cause  a  certificate  to  be 
sewed  to  the  msidc  of  each  coat  purporting  from  what 
town  it  came,  by  who  the  coat  was  made,  and  if  the 
cloth  was  manufactured  in  this  country.''  These  coats 
were  all  to  be  buttoned  with  pewter  buttons  having  the 
number  of  the  regiment  stamped  upon  the  face  of  them. 

The  sword  which  General  Ward  wore  at  this  time  was 
of  English  manufacture,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
a  descendant  in  South  America.  It  has  a  silver  hilt  sur- 
mounted by  a  wolf's  head,  a  silver  chain  running  from 
the  mouth  to  the  cross  hilt.  The  scabbard  is  of  plain 
leather  with  silver  mountings  and  steel  chains  to  attach 
it  to  the  sword  belt.  Later  a  sword  with  jewelled  hilt 
was  presented  to  him,  and  inscribed  "By  a  grateful 
people." 

It  was  no  light  task  to  reduce  to  order  the  army  that 


GENERAL    WARD  S    SWORD. 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  l6l 

had  so  suddenly  arisen  in  New  England  after  the  Battle 
at  Lexington  and  Concord.  All  were  volunteers,  but  all 
were  not  unused  to  camp  life.  ]\Iany  among  them  had 
fought  in  the  French  Wars,  many  more  had  served  in 
the  militia  companies  and  knew  something  of  military 
ways,  and  all  from  the  oldest  to  the  youngest  knew  full 
well  the  use  of  their  muskets.  This  ununiformed  army 
did  not  present  a  brilliant  spectacle  to  the  eye,  as  each 
individual  was  dressed  in  his  own  home  suit  and  no  two 
alike  ;  some  had  come  directly  from  the  plough-field, 
some  from  their  workshops  ;  they  had  gone  with  the 
idea  of  fighting  the  British  the  first  day,  and  the  re- 
straints of  camp  life  were  disagreeable  and  the  scarcity 
of  food  and  comfortable  quarters  discouraging. 

One  of  the  first  orders  issued  by  General  Ward  on  the 
2oth  of  April  was  "That  a  Captain,  one  Lieutenant,  two 
Sergeants,  and  fifty-two  rank-and-file,  march  imme- 
diately to  bury  the  dead,  and  take  care  of  the  wounded." 
Col.  Gardner  was  ordered  to  repair  immediately  to  Rox- 
bury,  and  bring  to  Cambridge  all  the  bread  that  could 
be  obtained  there,  and  Col.  Bond,  to  bring  "all  the 
cannon  at  Watertown,  Newton  and  Waltham,  with  part 
of  the  ammunition  to  the  camp  at  Cambridge."  It  was 
thought  by  the  Committee  of  Safety  that  the  British 
would  next  attack  Cambridge  and  therefore  that  place 
was  ordered  to  be  well  guarded.  It  was  here  that  Gen- 
eral Ward  had  his  head-quarters,  in  the  house  afterward 
owned  and  occupied  by  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 


1 62  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

The  volunteers  were  surrounding-  Boston  ;  day  by  day 
they  were  drawing  the  lines  closer,  guarding  all  the 
avenues  to  the  city  and  imprisoning  the  British,  leaving 
no  way  for  them  to  go  out,  but  by  the  sea. 

There  were  many  poor  in  the  city  who  were  loyal  to 
the  American  cause,  who  were  also  shut  up  there  on 
account  of  their  poverty,  having  been  unable  to  provide 
homes  for  themselves  elsewhere. 

Gov.  Gage  finding  them  no  benefit  to  him,  but  rather 
a  weight  on  his  hands,  gave  them  permission  to  go  out, 
provided  that  all  who  had  fire-arms  should  leave  them 
behind.  And  so  it  was  that  men  and  boys  sadly  marched 
into  Faneuil  Hall,  bravely  laid  down  their  muskets,  and 
came  out  empty  handed.  The  Provincial  Congress  or- 
dered that  provision  be  made  in  different  towns  for  all 
those  who  were  unable  to  do  for  themselves,  and  that 
they  be  transported  thither.  The  number  allotted  to 
vShrewsbury  was  thirty-two.  There  were  busy  times  in 
the  newly  formed  army,  there  were  anxious  times  at 
home  among  the  elders,  there  were  exciting  times  among 
the  boys,  who  talked  of  the  glories  of  war  and  of  the 
noble  achievements  there  would  be  to  record,  could  they 
but  have  a  chance  to  take  down  the  pride  of  some  of 
those  haughty  grenadiers.  What  wonder  that  the  hearts 
of  the  Shrewsbury  boys  beat  high  when  they  thought  of 
the  battle  that  was  daily  expected ! 

What  wonder  that  the  son  of  the  General  felt  a  desire 
that  could  not  be  repressed,  to  visit  his  father  and  wit- 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  1 63 

ness  the  preparations  for  war  ?  It  required  but  little  per- 
suasion from  him  to  induce  a  young  companion  to  join 
him  in  his  adventure.  Who  his  companion  was  tradition 
does  not  say,  and  we  can  only  guess  that  it  was  young 
Nathan  Howe,  who  wanted  so  much  to  go  with  his 
father.  Whoever  he  might  have  been,  he  was  a  Shrews- 
bury boy,  and  the  two  made  the  journey  on  foot.  It 
was  near  noon  on  the  17th  of  June  when  they  arrived  at 
■Cambridge  and  made  their  appearance  at  head-quarters. 

The  General  was  not  well  pleased  to  see  his  son  there 
at  that  time,  for  the  battle  was  already  begun.  His 
look  of  disapproval,  and  "How  is  this,  Tommy  .=>"  struck 
the  boy  as  not  propitious  for  a  long  visit;  and  "you 
must  go  right  back,"'  settled  the  matter.  And  so  these 
sons  of  soldiers,  who  were  brought  up  to  obey,  turned 
their  backs  on  the  camp  and  on  all  that  they  had  wished 
to  see,  and  set  their  faces  homeward,  even  though  balls 
from  the  "Lively"  and  "Somerset,"'  men  of  war  in  the 
harbor,  were  flying  over  at  the  intrenchments  on  Bunker 
Hill  and  the  Red-coats  would  soon  march  up  the  hill 
to  their  death.  The  rattle  of  musketry  reached  their 
ears,  and  the  flames  of  burning  Charlestown  were  in 
sight  when  they  turned  to  look  back  after  they  were  well 
out  of  town.  They  had  seen  the  camp,  they  had  heard 
the  noise  of  battle  ;  they  had  that  to  remember,  and 
they  could  remember  also  that  like  good  soldiers  they 
had    obeyed    orders. 

The  General  made   but  one   record  in  his  note  book 


164  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

that  day,  "The  battle  is  going  on  at  Charlestown.'^ 
There  is  no  time  to  write  in  journals  when  there  is  the 
most  to  write  about.  It  was  a  time  of  great  excitement ; 
here  were  the  undisciplined  soldiers  all  eager  to  fight  in 
the  first  battle  ;  there  was  lack  of  ammunition,  no  one 
waiting  for  orders,  orders  misunderstood  and  orders 
hard  to  get  when  the  General  himself  was  under  orders 
from  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  besides  all  this  there 
was  a  traitor  in  the  camp.  It  is  astonishing  that  the 
history  made  that  day  is  as  flattering  to  the  American 
forces  as  it  is.  The  account  of  the  Battle,  by  the  Provin- 
cial Congress,  is  a  simple  statement  of  things  as  they 
appeared  at  the  time,  without  criticism,  and  without 
censuring  any  one.  The  record  reads:  ''Reinforce- 
ments from  Ireland  both  of  horse  and  foot,  being  ar- 
rived, the  number  unknown,  and  having  good  intelli- 
o;ence  that  Gen.  Gage  was  about  to  take  possession  of 
the  advantageous  posts  in  Charlestown  and  on  Dor- 
chester point,  the  Committee  of  Safety  advised,  that  our 
troops  should  prepossess  them  if  possible  :  accordingly, 
on  Friday  evening,  the  i6th  instant,  this  was  effected  by 
about  twelve  hundred  men.  About  daylight  on  Satur- 
day morning,  their  line  of  circumvallation,  on  a  small 
hill  south  of  Bunker's  Hill  in  Charlestown  was  closed. 
At  this  time  the  "Lively"  man  of  war,  began  to  fire 
upon  them.  A  number  of  our  enemy's  ships,  tenders, 
cutters  and  scows  or  floating  batteries  soon  came  up  : 
from  all  which  the  fire  was  general  by  twelve  o'clock. 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  1 65 

About  two  the  enemy  began  to  land  at  a  point  which 
leads  out  towards  Noddle's  island,  and  immediately 
marched  up  to  our  intrenchments,  from  which  they  were 
twice  repulsed;  but,  in  the  third  attack  forced  them. 
Our  forces,  which  were  in  the  lines,  as  well  as  those  sent 
•out  for  their  support,  were  greatly  annoyed  by  balls, 
and  bombs  from  Copps  Hill,  the  ships,  scows,  &c.  At 
this  time,  the  buildings  in  Charlestown  appeared  in 
flames,  in  almost  every  quarter,  kindled  by  hot  balls, 
and  are  since  laid  in  ashes.  Though  this  scene  was  most 
horrible,  and  altogether  new  to  most  of  our  men,  yet 
many  stood  and  received  wounds  by  swords  and  bay- 
onets, before  they  quitted  their  lines.  At  five  o'clock  the 
enemy  were  in  full  possession  of  all  the  posts  within 
the  isthmus.  In  the  evening  and  the  night  following. 
General  Ward  extended  his  intrenchments,  before  made 
at  the  stone  house,  over  Winter  hill.  About  6  o'clock  of 
the  same  day,  the  enemy  began  to  cannonade  Roxbury, 
from  Boston  neck  and  elsewhere,  which  they  continued 
twenty-four  hours,  with  little  spirit  and  less  effect. 

The  number  killed  and  wounded  on  our  side  is  not 
known  ;  but  supposed  by  some  to  be  about  sixty  or 
seventy,  and  by  some  considered  to  be  considerably 
above  that  number.  Our  most  worthy  friend  and  presi- 
dent Doct.  Warren,  lately  elected  a  Major  general,  is 
among  them  ;  this  loss  we  feel  most  sensibly  *  *  If 
any  error  has  been  made  on  our  side,  it  was  in  taking 
a  post  so  much  exposed" — 


1 66  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

This  letter  to  the  Continental  Congress  was  prepared 
by  seven    men    chosen  by  the    Provincial    Congress    for 
the  purpose  and  written  four  days  after  the  battle.      The 
following  letter  also  was  sent  to  General  Ward  : 
"  In  Provincial  Congress 

Watertown,  June  22^,  1775. 
Sir  : 

Yours  of  this  day  hath  been  considered  by  the  Con- 
gress, they  are  entirely  satisfied  with  the  part  you  have 
taken  relative  to  their  suggestions  to  you,  of  the  pro- 
priety of  removing  a  regiment  or  more,  from  the  camp 
in  Roxbury  to  the  camp  in  Cambridge  ;  and  are  dis- 
posed to  leave  the  matter  to  be  conducted  by  you  as  in 
your  opinion  will  best  promote  and  secure  the  safety 
and  interest  of  the  whole. 

By  order  of  Congress 

Jas  Warren,  President. 
For 
Tne  Honbl  General  Ward 
att 

Cambridge." 
They  seem  not  to  have  been  greatly  discouraged  at 
the  loss  of  their  ground,  nor  do  they  exult  that  the 
enemy  lost  one  thousand  men  in  killed  and  wounded. 
That  they  considered  themselves  victorious  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  General  Green  said  "I  would  sell 
them  another  hill  at  the  same  price.""  When  General 
Washington   knew   the    circumstances    he  said    "There 


SHREWSBURY    IX    THE    REVOLUTION  1 6/ 

can  now  be  no  doubt  that  the  liberties  of  the  people  are 
secure. "  One  hundred  years  later,  two  hundred  thousand 
strangers  visited  Boston  to  join  with  the  citizens  in  cele- 
brating the  event  with  "the  most  magnificent  pageant 
that  has  ever  been  seen  on  this  continent." 

After  the  burning  of  Charlestown,  by  which  two  thou- 
sand persons  were  rendered  homeless,  the  destitute  were 
sent  out  into  the  country  to  be  provided  for,  and  homes 
were  found  in  Shrewsbury  for  ten.  Later,  when  prison- 
ers of  war  were  distributed  about  for  safe  keeping,  two 
were  this  town's  portion,  viz.  Perez  Merrin  and  Michael 
Maloney,  who  were  not  to  go  outside  the  limits  of  the 
town  without  a  pass  from  the  Selectmen.  On  the  day  of 
the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  General  Ward  was  appointed 
to  the  office  of  first  Major  General  of  the  army,  with 
Horatio  Gates  as  adjutant.  He  was  the  first  American 
to  receive  the  title  of  General  under  American  authority, 
but  his  command  not  extending  beyond  the  limits  of 
Massachusetts,  the  oftice  was  not  required  after  the 
troops  were  adopted  by  Congress  as  a  national  army. 
Immediately  on  his  election  as  commander-in-chief 
General  Washington  went  to  Mount  Vernon  to  bid  fare- 
well to  his  family  and  started  with  his  guard  for  Cam- 
bridge, where  he  arrived  July  2d,  1775,  and  where  he 
formally  took  command  of  the  army  under  the  famous 
elm.  A  guard  had  been  sent  from  Boston  to  Springfield 
to  escort  him  through  Worcester  and  Marlboro,  and 
ordered  to  stop  at  any  inns  on   the   way  when  refresh- 


1 68  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

meiit  was  needed.  Immediately  on  his  arrival  he  began 
to  organize  the  army,  taking  for  himself  the  central 
position  at  Cambridge,  posting  General  Ward  on  his 
right  at  Roxbury  and  General  Lee  on  his  left  at  Winter 
Hill. 

The  siege  of  Boston  was  carried  on  as  it  had  already 
begun  in  good  earnest,  and  the  British  were  imprisoned 
in  the  city  during  the  long,  hot  days  of  the  summer,  and 
so  on  into  the  winter,  when  they  made  the  time  of  their 
duress  gay  with  all  the  festivities  they  could  command. 

When  the  winter  began  to  wane,  their  thoughts  came 
back  to  the  cause  of  their  imprisonment,  and  they  found 
suddenly  that  the  Yankees  had  been  at  work  while  they 
w^ere  playing.  In  the  winter  General  Ward  had  pro- 
posed the  fortifying  of  Dorchester  Heights,  feeling  that, 
if  this  position  were  secured,  the  enemy  might  easily  be 
dislodged  from  Boston.  General  Washington  did  not  at 
first  favor  this  plan,  considering  it  too  hazardous,  but 
the  majority  of  the  ofticers  approving,  and  hearing  that 
the  enemy  contemplated  taking  possession  of  it,  he  con- 
cluded that  it  was  better  to  "prevent  than  remedy  an 
evil,  •"'  as  the  following  letter  shows  : — 

"Cambridge,  27th  Feb.,   1776. 
Sir: 

We  were  falsely  alarmed  a  while  ago  with  an  ace'  of 
the  Regulars  coming  over  from  the  Castle  to  Dorchester. 
Mr.  Bayler  Whom  I  immediately  sent  of  is  just  returned 
with  a  contradiction  of  it.      But  as  a  rascally  Rifle  man 


SHREWSBURY    IX    THE    REVOLUTION  1 69 

went  it  last  night  &  will  no  doubt  give  all  the  intelli- 
gence he  can,  w^  it  not  be  prudent  to  keep  Six  or  Eight 
trusty  men  by  way  of  Lookouts  or  Patrols  to-night  on 
the  point  next  the  castle  as  well  as  on  Nuke  Hill.  At 
the  same  time  ordering  particular  Regimts  to  be  ready  to 
march  at  a  moment's  warning  to  the  Heights  of  Dor- 
chester. For  should  the  enemy  get  Possession  of  those 
Hills  before  us,  they  would  render  it  a  difficult  task  to 
dispossess  them.  Better  it  is  therefore  to  prevent  than 
remedy  an  evil. 

I  am  yr  most  Obed 

GO   Washington 
To  Majr  Geni  Ward 

Roxbury. " 

The  barrels  referred  to  in  the  following  letter,  to  be 
used  as  a  defense,  were  to  be  filled  with  sand,  placed 
at  the  top  of  the  hill  and  let  loose  when  the  enemy 
began  to  ascend,  and,  rolling  down  into  the  ranks, 
would  soon  make  a  scattering  among  them.  The 
sequence  shows  however  that  the  British  were  too  cau- 
tious to  run  any  great  risk  and  the  barrels,  though  ready, 
were  not  needed. 
"To  Major  General  Ward 

Commanding  at  Roxbury 

Cambridge,  3d    March,  1776. 
Sir. 

My  letter  of   last   Night   would  inform   you   that   the 
Genl  officers  at  this  place  thought  it  dangerous  to  delay 


IJC  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

taking  the  Post  on  Dorchester  Hills,  least  they  should 
be  possessed  before  us  by  the  Enemy,  and  therefore 
Involye  us  in  difficulties  which  we  should  not  know 
how  to  extricate  ourselyes  from — this  opinion  they  were 
inclined  to  adopt  from  a  belief,  indeed  almost  a  certain 
knowledge,  of  the  Enemy's  being  appris'd  of  our  de- 
signs that  way. 

You  should  make  choice  of  some  good  Regiments  to 
go  on  the  morning  after  the  Post  is  taken,  under  the 
command  of  General  Thomas,  the  number  of  men  you 
shall  judge  necessary  for  this  Relief  may  be  ordered. 
I  should  think  from  two  to  three  thousand,  as  circum- 
stances may  require  would  be  enough.  I  shall  send 
you  from  hence  two  Regiments  to  be  at  Roxbury  early 
on  Tuesday  morning  to  strengthen  the  lines,  and  I  shall 
send  you  tomorrow  Eyening  two  Companies  of  Rifle- 
men, which  with  the  three  now  there  may  be  placed 
under  the  care  of  .Capt"  Hugh  Steyenson,  subject  to  the- 
Command  of  the  officers  Commanding  at  the  Post  (Dor- 
chester)— they  will  I  think  be  able  to  gald  the  Enem)r 
sorely  in  their  ]March  from  their  Boats  S:  inland.  A 
Blind  along  the  Causey  should  be  thrown  up,  if  possi- 
ble, while  the  other  work  is  about,  especially  on  the 
Dorchester  side,  as  that  is  nearest  the  Enemy's  Guns  & 
most  exposed.  We  calculated  I  think  that  800  men 
would  do  the  whole  Causey  with  great  ease  in  a  night, 
if  the  Marsh  has  not  got  bad  to  work  again,  &  the  tide 
gives  no  great  Interruption — 250  Axe  Men  I  should  think 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  17I 

would  soon  fell  the  Trees  for  the  Abettes,  but  what 
number  it  may  take  to  get  them,  the  Fascienes,  Chan- 
deliers &c  in  place  I  know  not — 750  men  (the  working 
party  carrying  their  arms)  will  I  should  think  be  suffi- 
cient for  a  Covering  Party,  these  to  be  Posted  on  Nuke 
Hill, — or  the  little  hill  in  front  of  the  2d  hill  looking  into 
Boston  Bay — and  near  the  point  opposite  the  Castle. 
Sentries  to  be  kept  between  the  Parties  &  some  on  the 
back  side  looking  toward  Squantum.  As  I  have  a  very 
high  opinion  of  the  defense  which  may  be  made  with 
Barrels  from  either  of  the  Hills,  I  could  wish  you  to 
have  a  number  over.  Perhaps  single  Barrels  would  be 
better  than  linking  of  them  together  being  less  liable  to 
accidents — the  Hoops  should  be  well  nailed  or  else 
they  will  soon  fly  and  the  Casks  fall  to  pieces.  You 
must  take  care  that  the  necessary  notice  is  given  to 
the  Militia  agreeable  to  the  plan  settled  with  General 
Thomas.  I  shall  desire  Col"  Gridley  &  Col.  Knox  to 
be  over  tomorrow  to  lay  out  the  work.  I  recollect 
nothing  more  at  present  to  mention  to  you — ^you  will 
settle  matters  with  the  officers  with  you,  as  what  I  have 
said  is  intended  rather  to  convey  my  ideas  generally, 
than  wishing  them  to  be  adhered  to  strictly. 

I  am  with  esteem  &c  Sir 
Yr  most  Obed  Servt 

Go  Washington." 
On  the  receipt  of  this  letter  General  Ward  issued  an 
order  which  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the   Shrewsbury 


\']2  OLD    TIMES    IK    SHREWSBURY 

men,   who   were  weary  of   the  monotony  of  camp  life 
and  rejoiced  in  the  prospect  of  actual  warfare. 

They  did  not  disappoint  their  commander,  but  by 
assiduous  labor  through  the  chilly  March  night  the 
work  was  accomplished  which  decided  the  fate  of 
Eoston.  A  part  of  the  fortification  still  remains,  but 
only  enough  to  give  a  suggestion  of  what  was  done  that 
night.  The  labor  and  exposure  resulted  seriously  for 
many  of  the  men,  and  Nathan  Howe  never  recovered 
his  health.  The  works  were  a  surprise  to  the  British 
next  morning,  who  saw  at  once  that  their  last  hope 
had  fled  and  that  those  Yankees  would  never  be 
caught  napping.  With  one  consent  they  boarded  their 
ships  and  left  Boston  to  the  undisputed  possession  of 
the  Americans,  and  as  the  King's  troops  left  on  one  side 
by  the  sea,  Gen.  Washington  and  his  army  marched 
in  with  flying  colors  on  the  other.  On  the  17th  of 
March  the  fleet  sailed  away  and  on  the  29th  Gen.  Wash- 
ington, who  was  preparing  to  go  with  most  of  his  army 
to  New  York,  wrote  to  Gen.  Ward  asking  him  to  remove 
into  Boston  (if  he  were  not  afraid  of  the  small-pox)  and 
to  take  command  of  the  five  regiments  to  be  left  there 
for  the  defense  of  the  city,  direct  the  erection  of  works 
and  attend  to  matters  in  general  there.  General  Ward 
was  not  afraid  of  the  small-pox,  when  such  a  fear 
would  interfere  with  his  duty,  and  took  the  command 
as  requested.  With  the  British  Army,  fifteen  hundred 
royalists   had  gone,  and   the   city  thus  left  in    haste   by 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  1 73 

SO  large  a  number  of  people,  was  a  scene  of  confusion, 
disorder,  disease  and  poverty.  General  Ward  with  his 
few  troops  was  expected  to  restore  order  and  cleanse, 
fortify  and  defend  the  city.  He  had  wished  to  resign 
his  position  on  account  of  ill  health,  but  Congress  sent 
a  request  that  he  would  continue  there.  In  a  letter  to 
John  Hancock  in  September  he  says,  ''I  have  continued 
in  Boston  many  months  in  a  very  disagreeable  situa- 
tion, and  am  of  opinion  in  a  dishonorable  one.  I  was 
left  with  the  command  of  but  five  Regiments  (or  rather 
with  parts  of  five)  and  fettered  with  an  Instruction  with 
which  I  would  not  have  fettered  a  Col.  of  a  Regt.  I  had 
everything  to  do,  and  nothing  to  do  with.  Some  said 
if  they  were  in  my  place  they  would  run  away.  I  did 
not  think  best  to  conduct  in  that  manner,  but  contin- 
ued in  some  respects  greatly  to  my  disadvantage  that 
I  might  be  able  to  comply  with  the  above  request  of 
Congress."  That  summer  John  Hancock  sent  him  a 
letter  which  speaks  for  itself. 

"  Philadelphia,  July  6th,   1776. 
Sir. 

The  enclosed  Declaration  of  Independence,  I  am  di- 
rected to  transmit  to  you  with  a  request  that  you  will 
have  it  proclaimed  at  the  head  of  the  Troops  under 
your  Command,  in  the  Way  you  shall  think  most 
proper.  I  have-  only  time  to  add,  that  the  importance 
of  it,  will  naturally  suggest  the  Propriety  of  proclaiming 


174  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

it,  in   such  a    manner,  as  that  the  whole  army   may  be 
fully  apprised  of  it. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  Sir 

Your  most  obed.  &  very  hble  Ser. 
John   Hancock,  Presd^-" 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1776  General  Ward's  resig- 
nation was  accepted  by  Congress.  The  next  year  he 
was  elected  President  of  the  Executive  Council  of  the 
Colony,  and  in  1779  appointed  a  member  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress. 

On  the  1 6th  of  ]May,  1780,  he  set  out  for  Philadel- 
phia to  take  his  place  in  Congress  accompanied  by 
Daniel  Newton,  of  Shrewsbury,  who  went  with  him  as 
servant,  each  on  horseback,  the  horses  being  purchased 
for  the  trip  The  expense  of  the  journey  being  $2041.50 
in  old  currency. 

The  next  year  ]Mr.  Samuel  Adams  being  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  wishing  an  escort  to  return  to  ^Massachusetts, 
Daniel  Newton  was  sent  with  him  and  returned  im- 
mediately to  accompany  General  Ward  home  after 
resting  the  horses  a  few  days.  During  the  next  few 
years  his  attention  was  directed  to  making  improve- 
ments on  his  farm  and  to  enlarging  his  house.  It 
was  in  1785  (as  has  been  already  stated),  that  he  built 
the  west  end  for  his  own  occupation,  leaving  the  old 
part  for  his  son  Thomas  Walter,  who  had  married 
Elizabeth  Denny  of  Leicester,  and  who  was  afterward 
High    Sheriff  of  Worcester    County,    an    office    of  much 


SHERIFF    WARD. 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  1 77 

importance  in  those  days.  There  are  some  still  living- 
who  remember  Sheriff  Ward  with  his  cocked  hat,  knee 
breeches  and  black  silk  stockings,  riding  about  the 
country  in  his  yellow-bodied  sulky,  drawn  by  a  large 
white  horse. 

He  continued  in  his  office  nineteen  years  and  derived 
much  satisfaction  from  the  fact  that  in  all  that  time  he 
was  not  obliged  to  take  the  life  of  a  human  being  in 
executing  the  duties  of  his  office.  He  was  at  one  time 
making  a  journey  into  Connecticut  in  company  with  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Sumner,  each  in  his  own  conveyance.  Dr. 
Sumner  taking  the  lead.  Before  coming  to  the  boun- 
dary line  between  the  two  states  Dr.  Sumner,  who  was 
fond  of  a  pleasant  joke,  called  back  to  Sheriff  Ward 
telling  him  to  go  ahead  as  he  did  not  choose  to  have  it 
said  that  he  had  been  followed  by  the  Sheriff  into  Con- 
necticut !  So  the  yellow-bodied  sulkey  took  the  lead, 
and  the  minister  came  after. 

About  this  time  Gen.  Ward  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
courts  and  it  was  in  his  judicial  life  that  the  strongest 
points  in  his  character  were  revealed.  A  stern  sense 
of  justice  and  duty  ruled  his  life  and,  his  actions  being 
governed  by  Christian  principle,  nothing  could  shake 
him  in  his  purpose  to  do  what  he  felt  to  be  right.  One 
act  of  his  shows  the  depth  and  firmness  of  his  character 
— this  was  the  brave  and  decided  stand  which  he  took 
in  the  Shays  rebellion.  A  history  of  this  insurrectionary 
movement  would  be  of  too  great  length  to  be  included 


178  OLD    TIMES    IX    SHREWSBURY 

in  a  sketch  like  this.  But  briefly  it  was  that  the  people 
had  been  made  poor  by  the  enormous  expense  attending 
the  war,  everybody  was  in  debt,  and  few  had  any 
money  ;  the  idea  of  the  leaders  of  this  rebellion  was, 
that  could  the  people  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands, 
stop  the  sitting  of  the  courts  and  thus  prevent  execu- 
tions being  taken  out  against  debtors,  that  all  would  be 
satisfactory.  The  courts  could  do  nothing  but  to  ex- 
ecute the  demands  of  the  law,  knowing  that  matters 
would  come  right  in  time,  if  order  and  quiet  could  be 
preserved. 

Capt.  Daniel  Shays,  an  impetuous,  adventurous  man 
and  revolutionary  soldier,  led  the  rebellion,  which  was 
confined  mostly  to  Worcester  County,  and  many  Shrews- 
bury men  took  up  arms  under  him.  Captain  Aaron 
Smith  who  lived  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  county  road 
from  Judge  Ward,  in  the  Baldwin  Tavern,  as  we  have 
seen  in  the  chapter  on  that  place,  rallied  his  men,  and 
Captain  Adam  Wheeler,  formerly  a  Shrewsbury  man, 
led  a  company.  Both  these  men  had  fought  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  under  Gen.  Ward,  and  were  rugged  old 
soldiers  ;  now  they  were  in  arms  against  their  old 
neighbor  and  commander.  The  W^orcester  militia  could 
not  be  depended  upon  for  help,  being  too  much  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  rebellion  ;  the  general  court  was  tardy  in 
sending  troops  and  so  the  County  Court  had  no  help  in 
the  first  encounter,  having  been  ordered  by  the  general 
court  to  sit  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  September  ;  the  order 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION 


179 


must  be  obeyed  at  all  hazards  and  the  court  prepared 
for  its  session.  A  graphic  and  concise  description  of  this 
event  is  given  by  Mr.  Harlow  in  his  History  of  Shrews- 
bury, of  which  the  following  is  an  extract:  "The  first 
demonstration  of  the  insurgents  at  Worcester  in  Sep- 
tember was  successful  in  prevenj;ing  the  sitting  of  the 
courts.  It  was  upon  this  occasion  that  General  Artemas 
Ward,  of  Shrewsbury,  then  chief  justice  of  both  the 
Courts  of  Sessions  and  Common  Pleas,  performed  the 
act  which  will  go  to  posterity  as  the  crowning  act  of  his 
hfe.  Wheeler's  company  had  marched  into  Worcester 
on  Monday  afternoon,  September  4,  1786,  the  day  before 
the  courts  were  to  sit,  took  up  quarters  in  the  court- 
house Monday  night,  so  as  to  be  sure  and  be  in  posses- 
sion when  the  judges  should  arrive  next  morning. 
Smith's  company  marched  in  from  Shrewsbury  early 
Tuesday  morning  and  was  deployed  and  posted  as  sen- 
tries on  Court  Hill  and  around  the  court-house.  An 
immense  crowd  of  people  had  assembled  thereabouts. 
Approaching  the  court-house  the  judges  were  challenged 
by  an  armed  sentry  at  the  foot  of  Court  Hill.  At  the 
order  of  his  old  commander,  now  chief  justice,  the  sentry 
recovered  his  musket,  presented  arms,  and  the  judges 
proceeded  past  him  to  the  court-house.  There,  upon 
the  broad  step  at  the  south  entrance,  stood  Capt.  Wheeler 
and  Capt.  Smith  with  drawn  swords  in  their  hands  and 
five  soldiers  with  fixed  bayonets.  *  *  Proceeding  to 
mount  the  court-house  steps,  the  further  progress  of  the 


l8o  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

judges  was,  by  order  of  Capt,  Wheeler,  arrested  by  the 
soldiers,  who  brought  their  bayonets  to  bear  directly  on 
the  chief  justice's  breast,  so  that  their  points  even  pene- 
trated his  clothes.  After  a  parley  the  officers  consented 
to  allow  him  to  mount  the  steps  and  address  the  people. 
Thous:h  Artemas  Ward  of  Shrewsbury  had  been  much 
in  public  life,  he  was  a  man  usually  of  slow  and  hesi- 
tating speech,  had  rarely  taken  part  in  debates  and  had 
never  been  accounted  an  orator.  As  soon  as  he  had 
looked  his  audience  in  the  face  there  seems  to  have 
come  over  him  a  sort  of  inspiration,  and  with  great 
fluency,  fervor  and  eloquence  he  forthwith  proceeded  to 
reason  with  the  people,  whose  grievances  he  did  not 
deny,  upon  their  mistaken  method  of  relief.  The  news- 
paper man  was  not  there  to  report,  nor  had  the  speaker 
in  his  pocket  an  extemporaneous  manuscript  to  privately 
send  to  the  press,  and  only  by  tradition  has  any  word 
of  what  he  said  survived  the  more  than  hundred  years 
since  the  event,  but  more  than  anything  he  did  say,  or 
could  say — more  than  anything  the  greatest  of  orators 
could  have  said — was  the  dauntless  courage  and  dignity 
of  his  conduct  as  a  magistrate,  of  which  to  find  a  his- 
torical parallel  you  will  have  to  make  a  far  research." 
In  Lincoln's  History  of  Worcester  we  find  that  he  said 
"he  did  not  value  their  bayonets;  they  might  plunge 
them  into  his  heart ;  but  while  that  heart  beat  he  would 
do  his  duty  ;  when  opposed  to  it  his  life  was  of  little 
consequence  ;  if  they  would  take   away  their  bayonets 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  l8l 

and  give  him  some  position  v^^here  he  could  be  heard  by 
his  fellow  citizens  and  not  by  the  leaders  alone,  who 
had  deceived  and  deluded  them,  he  would  speak,  but 
not  otherwise."  Struck  with  admiration  by  his  intre- 
pidity, and  shrinking  from  the  sacrifice  of  life,  the  guns 
were  removed,  and  Judge  Ward  ascending  the  steps 
addressed  the  assembly. 

There  has  arisen  a  story  in  late  years,  that  along  with 
these  brave  words  he  said  some  very  bad  ones,  and 
replied  to  the  challenge  of  the  bayonets  with  a  profane 
curse.  Doubtless  this  charge  is  not  provable  ;  we  almost 
feel  that  the  contrary  might  be  proved.  The  law  had 
been,  and  something  very  like  it  remains  on  the  statute 
books  to  this  day,  ''that  if  any  person  was  convicted  of 
profane  swearing  or  cursing,  he  should  pay  a  sum  not 
exceeding  eight,  nor  less  than  four  shillings,  and  if  not 
paid  immediately,  the  offender  shall  be  committed  to 
the  House  of  Correction  there  to  remain  not  exceeding 
ten  days  nor  less  than  five.  And  that  if  any  peson  or 
persons  shall  profanely  swear  in  the  hearing  of  any 
sheriff  or  consteble,  they  each  of  them  are  authorized 
and  required  to  apprehend  and  secure  such  offender  and 
give  information  thereof  to  some  Justice  of  the  Peace  of 
the  same  county  in  order  that  the  offender  may  be  con- 
victed and  punished  for  the  same. "  And  it  was  further 
enacted  ''that  no  person  or  persons  shall  be  prosecuted 
or  troubled  for  any  offence  against  this  law,  unless  the 
same  be  proved  or  prosecuted  within  twenty  days  next 


1 83  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

after  the  offence  is  committed."  We  do  not  hear  that 
any  such  charge  was  made  at  this  time  nor  within 
twenty  days,  not  even  within  twenty  years.  If  no 
charge  was  made  in  those  days  when  profane  swearing 
was  treated  as  a  crime,  it  seems  a  little  singular  to  bring 
it  now.  Surely  if  Artemas  Ward  ever  used  profane 
language,  the  supreme  moment  in  all  his  life  in  which 
he  was  the  least  likely  to  use  it,  was  the  time  when  he 
stood  upon  the  Court-House  steps  representing  the  dig- 
nity of  obedience  to  the  law,  in  the  face  of  the  instru- 
ments of  death  ! 

]\Ic^Iasters  knew  little  of  the  character  of  the  man  of 
whom  he  wrote  "Forgetting  himself  he  began  to  curse 
and  to  swear,  '  And  "  becoming  more  angry  he  stamped 
his  foot  upon  the  ground,  &c." 

Gen.  Ward  never  lost  his  self-control ;  one  of  his 
striking  characteristics  was  that  he  was  always  cool 
and  collected ;  the  greater  the  emergency  the  greater 
his  self-command.  If  his  indignation  was  aroused,  he 
was  always  above  it,  and  the  real  grandeur  of  his  char- 
acter never  showed  more  clearly  than  when  his  whole 
nature  was   stirred. 

The  Shays  men  were  in  earnest ;  their  numbers  were 
large  and  they  were  determined  to  accomplish  their 
designs.  They  agreed  that  if  the  Government  should 
arrest  any  of  them,  they  would  be  revenged  on  Judge 
Ward   and   Judge    Gill. 

The  Court  being  adjourned  to  a  certain  day  in  Janu- 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  1 85 

ary,  those  under  arms  marched  to  Shrewsbury  and  had 
their  rendezvous  in  the  large  yard  in  front  of  the  Bald- 
win Tavern  directly  opposite  Judge  Ward's  house,  there 
to  await  the   day  of  the  opening  of  the  Court.     Winter 
set  in  ;   the  men  were   discouraged   by   their  hardships 
caused  by  the  storms  and  cold  of  winter ;  the  militia  at 
last  came  out  and  pursued  them  in  all  directions,  follow- 
ing them  even  into  other  states,  taking  some  prisoners 
and  ending  the  rebellion.      Shays  left  his  followers,  fled, 
and  hid  himself  in   obscurity.     There  may  have    been 
some  who  gloried  in  the  part  they  took  in  this  inglorious 
rebellion,  but  their  cause  for  rejoicing  is  hard  to  find.     It 
is  quite  certain  that  there  were  some  who  were  heartily 
ashamed   of  their    connection    with    it,    as  their   hand- 
writing shows  in   the  letters  they  sent  to  Judge  Ward, 
humbly  asking  his  pardon  for  what  they  had  said  and 
done  against  him.     An  extract  from  one  lengthy  petition 
shows    the  writer's    state    of    mind    in    regard    to    his 
errors:    ''Being    convinced  of  the    error  and  evil  con- 
sequence of  Rising    in    rebellion    &    opposition    to    the 
good  laws  and    authority  of    this   Commonwealth,   and 
having  been  in  some  degree    active    in    the  affair  my- 
self as  your  Honf  is  acquainted  with,  do  feel  truly  and 
heartily  sorry    for    my    mis-conduct.     Therefore  permit 
me  kind  Sir   to  beg  humbly  your   pardon  and  forgive- 
ness in  this  as  well  as  in  all    other    matters.      Worthy 
Sir,  I  confess  the  former    favours,    I    have   rec^  at  the 
hands  of  your  Hon^,  and  am    sorry  for  the  unthankful 


1 86  OLD    TIMES    IN    SHREWSBURY 

returns  I  have  been  left  to  make  for  so  rich  and  valu- 
able favors."  Another,  a  townsman,  wrote  that  he 
regretted  having  said  and  done  things  in  an  excited 
state  of  mind,  w^hich  in  his  cooler  moments  he  had 
thought  unworthy  of  a  gentleman  and  that  he  hoped 
in  the  future  to  be  considered  a  friend  and  a  good 
neighbor.  And  another  neighbor  wrote  a  communi- 
cation to  be  read  before  the  church  expressing  his 
sorrow  for  his  "unbecoming  behaviour  toward  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  and  the  friends  of 
the  government  thereof,"  and  that  he  had  "been  too 
easily  led  astray  by  ignorant  and  designing  men,  for 
all  of  which  mis-conduct  I  am  now  truly  and  sin- 
cerely sorry,  and  ask  forgiveness  of  all  whom  I  have 
offended. " 

After  another  term  in  Congress  Gen.  Ward  came 
home  and  spent  his  last  years  with  his  children.  His 
grandchildren  lived  to  tell  their  grandchildren  about 
the  handsome  old  man,  with  his  erect  and  portly 
figure  set  off  with  his  ruffles  and  shoe-buckles  and 
all  the  touches  of  the  old  time  costume — ^how  he  would 
rise  from  his  straight-backed  chair  and  take  from  a 
shelf  of  a  tall  cupboard  in  his  room,  crackers  or  rai- 
sins or  some  other  dainty  (as  they  were  then)  and 
give  them  as  a  reward  for  some  little  service  they 
had  done.  His  death  occurred  at  the  Homestead, 
October  27,  1800,  and  he  was  buried  in  the  family 
lot  in  the    old  cemetery.      His   warm  friend,    Rev.    Dr. 


SHREWSBURY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  1 87 

Sumner,  wrote  the  inscription  whicti  was  placed  upon 
his  tombstone.  This  was,  with  the  other  ancient 
stones,  taken  away  about  1840  and  the  present  monu- 
ment  erected. 

THE  END. 


-^^^^^^  ■ 


,^^^f^^^~ 


o 


ACME 

BOOKBINDING  CO.,  INC. 

MAR  28    1993 

100  CAMBRIDGF  STREET 
CHARLESTOWN,  MASS 


